Private investment owners are selling injection molder American Plastics LLC after five years of control.
Highview Capital LLC built American Plastics with partner Victory Park Capital Advisors LLC, starting with the 2017 purchase of Katy Industries Inc. and a subsequent 2018 merger with sister companies Creative Plastic Concepts and Centrex Plastics.
St. Louis-based American Plastics makes household and garage storage products, shelving systems, tool boxes and workstations sold at retail locations. The company also manufactures containers for the janitorial, food service and office products segments.
The new owner of the American Plastics was not revealed in a July 20 announcement, and a representative for Highview could not be immediately reached for comment.
"American Plastics' success is the result of bringing together three scale industry players and driving a transformation in partnership with a top-notch management team. A combination of newly implemented cutting-edge technologies and a renewed focus on our core storage customers led AP to a true leadership position in the industry," Highview Managing Director P.J. Gilbert said in a statement.
More than $100 million was invested in the company during Highview's and Victory Park's ownership to increase capacity and automation and introduce new products, Highview said.
"Over the past five years, we have worked tirelessly to create a leading presence in the world of sustainable injection-molded plastics, and we are extremely proud of all we have accomplished," American Plastics CEO Robert Guerra said in a statement.
A representative for Victory Park indicated work over time has created a national player.
"We aimed to transform this business and the sale is a reflection of this group's dedication to that shared goal. We greatly look forward to watching American Plastics continue to grow and flourish," Charlie Asfour said in a statement.
American Plastics, in 2019, said it was spending $3.5 million and hiring 130 employees at its Tiffin, Ohio, injection molding plant to help meet increased demand for shelving and totes sold under the Craftsman brand at Lowe's. That Tiffin site is a former Katy Industries location. A story at that time indicated the location also made shelves and totes under the Commander and Blue Hawk brands for Lowe's, the Husky brand for Home Depot and Tough Box for Sam's Club.
American Plastics has a total of 14 manufacturing and distribution locations.