The once financially distressed Macedonia, Ohio-based Design Molded Plastics LLC (DMP) has acquired the majority of the assets of two privately held injection molding companies in the northeast part of the state.
DMP officials declined, however, to name the two companies involved in the private sales, which closed in July and September of 2024, saying they didn't have permission from the sellers.
The first seller retired and the second one joined DMP, which itself was on the brink of closure until its assets were purchased through a public sale by Big Shoulders Capital in May 2023.
Now Big Shoulders, a Northbrook, Ill.-based family-owned investment firm focused on manufacturing, is expanding DMP by combining it with two strong companies.
Assets such as machinery and equipment, accounts receivable, inventory and proprietary molds as well as some experienced employees and an existing set of customers for the acquired companies are being integrated into the Macedonia facility.
Big Shoulders is looking to make other similar deals, according to DMP President Brian Schroeder, who also leads the equity investments vertical at Big Shoulders Capital.
"I think we've found a very creative way to work with owner-operators that don't have the next step planned," Schroeder said in a phone interview. "They may want to be done tomorrow. They may want to work for the next 10 years with us, but they don't want the administrative burden of running a business. We allow owners to focus on what originally made them passionate about their business, whether that's engineering, sales or operations."
That's what one of the recent sellers is doing. He joined DMP, which serves mostly the consumer products, sporting goods and automotive markets, to focus on business development and project management. "He will work for us as long as he wants to," Schroeder said. "The other seller wanted to be done the next day. He washed his hands clean after a great career and took a trip to Italy for a month."
Founded in 2013, Big Shoulders is focused on underperforming lower- to middle-market operating companies.
DMP fit the bill. The company struggled with a backlog and with maintaining customer relations, Schroeder said.
Big Shoulders bought DMP for an undisclosed sum. Then financial and operational turnaround plans were enacted and, when completed, allowed DMP to shift to acquisition mode.
As sales staff reached out to every customer, Schroeder said a formal process balance sheet restructuring helped DMP shed debt and provide market-competitive increases to its direct workforce.
Meanwhile, on the production side, DMP moved away from two shifts working four 10-hour days with overtime when needed to a 24/7 operation. This improved the workflow and let DMP take on a new customer that now is its third-largest.