Singapore-based Sunningdale buys Arizona medical molder

Sunningdale Tech Ltd., a precision injection molder and toolmaker based in Singapore, now has a U.S. manufacturing base.

Publicly traded Sunningdale bought Chandler, Ariz.-based Moldworx LLC on Nov. 6 for $4 million.

"This marks Sunningdale's first expansion into the U.S.," Jim Taylor, founder and owner of Moldworx, said.

Sunningdale has 18 manufacturing plants in Asia, Latin America and Europe, and it already had a support office in Michigan. The company has four units: automotive/aerospace, consumer/information technology, health care and tooling.

CEO Khoo Boo Hor said some U.S. health care customers have "indicated a strong interest" to expand their business with Sunningdale.

"The acquisition is in line with our forward-looking plans to accelerate growth for our health care segment as it will allow us to capture new business opportunities in the large U.S. market," he said.

Sunningdale considered building a greenfield U.S. molding business but acquired Moldworx for a speedier route into the market.

Taylor said he was not particularly looking to sell his 25-year-old business, but when a good offer came along, he decided it was time.

Sunningdale will retain the Moldworx name and all 35 employees, including Taylor, who is now vice president and general manager, as well as his business partner Joe Motyka, who is now director of operations.

Taylor said he connected with Sunningdale through a former owner of Tech Group, a Scottsdale, Ariz.-based molder that was sold to West Pharmaceutical Services Inc. in 2017. Tech Group used to have an ownership stake in Sunningdale.

"The president of Sunningdale reached out to the former owner of the Tech Group looking for info on who might be a good fit in the Southwest for Sunningdale to expand," Taylor said. "The former Tech Group owner reached out to a former Tech Group salesperson, whom I know, and the sales person introduced both me and Joe. … The four of us went to dinner and that started the conversation."

Because of COVID-19 and travel restrictions, Taylor said that was the only in-person meeting they had through the acquisition process.

"It was unreal," Taylor said. "All the rest of the contact was via phone, email, video conferencing. The group from Singapore still can't travel. As a matter of fact, we have moved into a new facility that they have only seen through video."

Sunningdale Tech posted 2019 sales of $494.9 million, employs more than 8,000 people and has more than 1,000 injection presses. On the tooling side, it has expertise in film insert molding, liquid silicone rubber, stack molds, multishot, gas-assist, and molds for thin-wall high-speed molding.

Taylor established Moldworx in 1995 as a tool shop. He added mold trials, then low-volume molding and finally full-fledged production molding around 2015. The company moved into a new 24,000-square-foot facility in May, replacing two buildings. The move allowed the company to combine both tooling and molding in one location, improving efficiency and collaboration.

Today, Moldworx operates 10 injection molding presses ranging from 55-400 tons of clamping force. Its mold making division builds molds primarily for components for the drug delivery/pharmaceutical market. The molding division serves a variety of markets including consumer, agriculture and health care.

Taylor said Moldworx will finish 2020 with sales of more than $4 million.

"Business has been strong. We have been very fortunate through this pandemic and continue to grow," he said. Under Sunningdale's ownership, "we will be adding equipment, systems and upgrading our quality lab in preparation of expanding business opportunities."

"Moldworx is fortunate to have a great customer base that continues to challenge us to develop new technologies to meet their ever-changing and demanding requirements, especially in the drug delivery space," he said.

Taylor said his team has grown Moldworx to the size that many custom mold building and molding companies approach when an opportunity to be acquired is ideal.

"The next big step to expansion requires a substantial amount of capital infusion. While we weren't looking to sell, Sunningdale was looking for entry into the U.S. market with a successful company that was aligned with their capabilities in the markets they serve," Taylor said. "We're looking forward to being part of the next phase of the continued growth of Moldworx."

Prior to the Moldworx deal, Sunningdale had plants in Singapore; Johor and Penang, Malaysia; Tianjin, Shanghai, Suzhou, Zhongshan, Guangzhou and Chuzhou, China; Riga, Latvia; Guadalajara, Mexico; Chennai, India; Rayong, Thailand; and Batam, Indonesia.