Swiss manufacturing giant OC Oerlikon Corp. AG is acquiring hot-runner maker INglass SpA of Italy for an undisclosed price.
In an April 23 news release, officials with Oerlikon in Pfaeffikon, Switzerland, said that INglass and its HRSflow division are market leaders in hot-runner systems. They added that INglass's technology is highly complementary to Oerlikon's existing capabilities in polymer flow control and will expand Oerlikon's market access.
Oerlikon officials also said that the acquisition, which is expected to be completed in the second quarter, "accelerates Oerlikon's strategy in diversifying its man-made fibers business to expand into the high-growth polymer processing solution market."
The acquisition "will broaden our OEM customer base in other industries and put our polymer processing business on an entirely new growth trajectory," CEO Roland Fischer said in the release.
Georg Strausberg, CEO of Oerlikon's Polymer Processing Solutions unit, described INglass as "a leader in polymer flow control solutions with proven success in many markets."
"Our combined know-how and expertise in polymer processing and melt distribution engineering, our global market presence and our well-established brands make a winning formula," he said.
INglass was founded in 1987 and is based in San Polo di Piave, Italy. Its product portfolio includes hot runners as well as engineering and consultancy services for development of polymer processing products. The firm's hot runners are used in multiple industries from automotive, consumer goods and household appliances.
HRSflow has been a separate unit within INglass since 2001. The business directly serves OEM customers in the automotive and other industries.
Worldwide, INglass employs more than 1,000 at 55 locations, including plants in Italy, China and the United States. The firm posted sales of around 135 million Swiss francs ($147 million) in 2020.
HRSflow will be integrated into Oerlikon's high-precision flow control components business. That unit offers gear metering pumps for textiles, automotive, chemicals, paints and other markets.
INglass CEO Antonio Bortuzzo said in the release that his firm believes that within Oerlikon, it "can further exploit the potential of our hot-runner systems technology."
He added that when combined with the capabilities of Oerlikon gear metering pumps, the deal "will position our business as one of the leading precision flow control specialists for multiple applications in a global growth market."
Oerlikon employs more than 10,600 at 179 locations and posted sales of 2.3 billion Swiss francs ($2.5 billion) in 2020. The publicly held firm operates in surface engineering, polymer processing and additive manufacturing.