Aurora, lIl.-based Tangent Technologies LLC, a manufacturer of high density polyethylene lumber products, has picked up a pair of businesses, Home & Leisure Group Ltd. and Vinyl Tech Ltd., which expands its capabilities, footprint and overall sales to about $120 million.
Millersburg, Ohio-based Vinyl Tech had a been long-time distributor for Tangent, which produces recycled wood-alternative lumber for outdoor furniture, marine decking and site amenities, including the planks used to repair New York's beloved Coney Island boardwalk after Superstorm Sandy in 2012.
Vinyl Tech has two distribution sites, one in Ohio and one in Pennsylvania.
Brantford, Ontario-based Home & Leisure is a vertically integrated extruder, fabricator, and assembler of wood-alternative products specifically centered around recycled HDPE marine-grade polymer. The company has one manufacturing plant with three state-of-the-art HDPE sheet lines that were attractive to the acquirer, Tangent CEO Guy DeFeo told Plastics News in a phone interview.
"They produce a marine-grade sheet product that differs from our dimensional extrusions," DeFeo said. "It offers a different look and finish for outdoor furniture and other products. We wanted to add that capability so we did it through acquisition. Now we're the only company in the world that will be able to offer both to customers in the wood-alternative outdoor market."
Overall, the simultaneous acquisitions bolster Tangent's capabilities in sheet manufacturing, fabrication, assembly, distribution and fulfillment for key geographies. For example, Vinyl Tech's distribution facilities serve furniture and playground builders in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Indiana. DeFeo said Tangent will continue to invest in the distribution footprint.
"We will increase the size of both distribution facilities and we will increase the material held at each facility to continue to keep our customers supplied and product flowing into those geographies," DeFeo said.
Tangent's current customer base includes mostly original equipment manufacturers, municipalities and businesses like restaurants, high-end hotels and country clubs.
The management teams and employees of Home & Leisure and Vinyl Tech are remaining in place to drive and support the continued expansion of both organizations. Home & Leisure has about 50 employees and Vinyl Tech has 10, bringing the total number of Tangent employees to 280.
"We are excited to partner with Tangent to expand production capacity and tap into their extrusion and base material expertise," Doug Holmstead, founder of Home & Leisure, said in a news release.
"Our company has been doing business exclusively with Tangent since 2006, and we are excited to further formalize our close partnership by adding new warehousing capabilities and expanding our footprint in Ohio and Pennsylvania," Eugene Miller, founder of Vinyl Tech., said in the release.
Defeo founded Tangent in 2003 and he said the company's outlook is good having received four design patents for new wood extrusion technology. The company had estimated sales of $62 million and ranked No. 55 among North American pipe, profile and tubing extruders, according to Plastics News' latest ranking.
Following the acquisitions, DeFeo said annual sales will be $120 million.