Davies Molding LLC has made one acquisition so far this year and is keeping an eye open for others.
The company announced June 2 that it completed its purchase of injection molder and mold maker Euro-American Plastics Inc. of Flora, Miss. Euro-American Plastics launched in 1995 and served the electrical, automotive and consumer goods markets.
Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed. The deal closed in March and since then, Davies has been working to integrate the Flora plant, which will adopt the Davies name.
"We're making significant investments down there, to add more presses and hire people from that area … including a full-time human resources person," Davies President Derran Smith said in a June 3 phone interview. About 20 employees work at the plant now and Smith expects to add 10-15 over the next year.
Davies, an injection and compression molder in Carol Stream, Ill., will take advantage of the Flora facility's automation and competitive processing capabilities for high-volume production, Smith said.
The acquisition will bring Davies "a wealth of molding and engineering knowledge," the company said in a news release.
According to Smith, the deal will boost Davies' injection molding sales from $7.5 million to about $12 million, and its total sales to around $25 million. In addition to Euro-American Plastics' 30,000-square-foot plant, Davies gains 15 injection molding presses and a complete in-house tool repair shop.
Davies specializes in insert compression molding and insert injection molding. Its 99,000-square-foot Carol Stream facility houses 45 thermoset compression molding machines, five thermoset injection molding machines, and 24 thermoplastic injection molding machines.
He noted that demand for thermoset molding "tends to be shrinking with the advent of other materials," and some compression molders have been looking to exit the business. Davies is expanding its capacity to grow and fill that void.
"We continue to look for acquisition opportunities to build competencies that make strategic sense for us," Smith said. "We're in the early stages of eyeing another acquisition."
Davies began in 1933 during the Great Depression as the Harry Davies Molding Co. The company molded phenolics in a one-room operation in Chicago, then began plastic molding during World War II. Today, the company claims to be the world's largest manufacturer of multipurpose handles and knobs. It also makes instrument cases and covers for the electrical, hardware and mechanical industries. It offers more than 600 products in 9,000 variations and does custom molding for markets including oil and gas, electrical, lighting, automotive and food-service equipment.
Since 1988, Davies has been a subsidiary of family-owned, women-owned holding company Heico Cos. LLC of Chicago. Heico operates some 70 companies in 19 countries. The businesses are divided into four groups: applied solutions, industrial technologies, construction and metal processing.
Heico's companies employ more than 9,000 people and bring in annual sales of more than $2.5 billion.