Skip to main content
Sister Publication Links
  • Sustainable Plastics
  • Rubber News
Subscribe
  • Sign Up Free
  • Login
  • Subscribe
  • News
    • Processor News
    • Suppliers
    • More News
    • Digital Edition
    • End Markets
    • Special Reports
    • Newsletters
    • Resin pricing news
    • Videos
    • Injection Molding
    • Blow Molding
    • Film & Sheet
    • Pipe/Profile/Tubing
    • Rotomolding
    • Thermoforming
    • Recycling
    • Machinery
    • Materials
    • Molds/Tooling
    • Product news
    • Design
    • K Show
    • Mergers & Acquisitions
    • Sustainability
    • Public Policy
    • Material Insights Videos
    • Numbers that Matter
    • Automotive
    • Packaging
    • Medical
    • Consumer Products
    • Construction
    • Processor of the Year
    • Best Places to Work
    • Women Breaking the Mold
    • Rising Stars
    • Diversity
    • Most Interesting Social Media Accounts in Plastics
  • Opinion
    • The Plastics Blog
    • Kickstart
    • One Good Resin
    • Pellets and Politics
    • All Things Data
    • Viewpoint
    • From Pillar to Post
    • Perspective
    • Mailbag
    • Fake Plastic Trees
  • Shop Floor
    • Blending
    • Compounding
    • Drying
    • Injection Molding
    • Purging
    • Robotics
    • Size Reduction
    • Structural Foam
    • Tooling
    • Training
  • Events
    • K Show Livestream
    • Plastics News Events
    • Industry Events
    • Injection Molding & Design Expo
    • Livestreams/Webinars
    • Editorial Livestreams
    • Ask the Expert
    • Plastics News Events Library
    • Processor of the Year submissions
    • Plastics News Executive Forum
    • Injection Molding & Design Expo
    • Plastics News Caps & Closures
    • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum
    • Plastics in Automotive
    • PN Live: Mergers and Acquisitions
    • Polymer Points Live
    • Numbers that Matter Live
    • Plastics in Politics Live
    • Sustainable Plastics Live
    • Plastics Caps & Closures Library
    • Plastics in Healthcare Library
    • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum Library
  • Rankings & Data
    • Injection Molders
    • Blow Molders
    • Film Sheet
    • Thermoformers
    • Pipe Profile Tubing
    • Rotomolders
    • Mold/Toolmakers
    • LSR Processors
    • Recyclers
    • Compounders - List
    • Association - List
    • Plastic Lumber - List
    • All
  • Directory
  • Resin Prices
    • Commodity TPs
    • High Temp TPs
    • ETPs
    • Thermosets
    • Recycled Plastics
    • Historic Commodity Thermoplastics
    • Historic High Temp Thermoplastics
    • Historic Engineering Thermoplastics
    • Historic Thermosets
    • Historic Recycled Plastics
  • Custom
    • Sponsored Content
    • LS Mtron Sponsored Content
    • Conair Sponsored Content
    • KraussMaffei Sponsored Content
    • ENGEL Sponsored Content
    • White Papers
    • Classifieds
    • Place an Ad
    • Sign up for Early Classified
MENU
Breadcrumb
  1. Home
  2. News
August 03, 2022 11:34 AM

SyBridge buys Calframax to enter consumer goods market

Catherine Kavanaugh
Staff Writer
Plastics News Staff
  • Tweet
  • Share
  • Share
  • Email
  • More
    Reprints Print
    Calfrax-owners_i.jpg
    File photo by Don Loepp

    Calframax Technologies Inc. showed off its capabilities at NPE2018. The company was founded by Ray Little, left, and Joe Gasparovic.

    Southfield, Mich.-based SyBridge Technologies LP has acquired Calframax Technologies Inc., a mold maker based in Oldcastle, Ontario, to expand in the consumer end market.

    Founded in 1995, Calframax makes molds for household items, industrial packaging and horticultural products. The company also offers design and engineering services as well as aftermarket parts and repair.

    The deal marks SyBridge's 12th acquisition since its creation in 2019 by Crestview Partners, a New York-based private equity firm that committed $200 million of equity to bring together companies with manufacturing solutions that span end markets, geographies and technological capabilities.

    The Calframax transaction takes the acquirer into mold making for rigid plastic packaging and continues its vision to build a leadership position in consumer goods markets, according to SyBridge CEO Tony Nardone.

    "This is an important acquisition in that it brings us directly into the consumer equipment market, which has been a part of our strategy since our foundation," Nardone said in an email.

    Calframax's tooling is used to mold household food containers, recycling bins and waste baskets, laundry baskets and paint trays.

    "They have a great position in their legacy markets as outlined above," Nardone said. "We think we can further grow in that segment, but also continue to grow their newer thin-wall packaging capabilities — think pasta deli containers — as well as use our broad footprint to further support their existing clients."

    One of Calframax's innovations was a redesign of the standard 5-gallon pail mold to reduce cycle times by three seconds on average, which let customers produce more than 350,000 additional pails per year.

    Calframax was founded by former Letica Corp. tooling specialists. It moved into its current plant in Oldcastle in 1998, then expanded in 2010, adding space and injection presses for mold tryouts.

    Bill McDonough, president of SyBridge's consumer and life sciences business units, and Calframax owners Joe Gasparovic and Ray Little built a top-tier consumer tooling company. SyBridge plans to retain the 75-80 full-time employees.

    "The entire Calframax team will strengthen the SyBridge franchise. We are excited to welcome new team members and work together to support our customers' continued growth investments," McDonough said in a news release.

    Gasparovic and Little look at the deal as the next step in Calframax's evolution to create opportunities for customers and employees, the release says.

    SyBridge officials are open to further acquisitions.

    "Crestview Partners has committed substantial capital to help us further expand both our capabilities and geographies. As such, I think it's fair to say that we will continue to evaluate and execute on attractive acquisitions which we think will build the overall SyBridge platform," Nardone said.

    In other recent acquisitions, SyBridge acquired Fitchburg, Mass.-based Wachusett Precision Tool Inc. in May to expand its customer base and footprint in the life sciences and consumer markets.

    In March, SyBridge acquired Advantage Engineering Inc. in Windsor, Ontario, to offer online quoting for digital rapid prototyping and additive manufacturing as well as bridge tooling.

    Other acquisitions have included Active Industrial Solutions Inc. in Windsor; Pyramid Mold & Tool in Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.; Lakeshore Fixture & Gauge Ltd. in Windsor; Action Tooling LLC in Grand Rapids, Mich.; Concours Technologies Inc. of Lakeshore, Ontario; Valiant Tool and Mold Inc. of Windsor; X-Cell Tool and Mold Inc. in Fairview, Pa.; Toolplas Mexico of Querétaro, Mexico; and Toolstats software platform.

    The Concours business is No. 3 in the most recent Plastics News ranking of North American mold makers with $154 million in annual sales.

    RECOMMENDED FOR YOU
    EV push could spur more auto supplier mergers and acquisitions
    Letter
    to the
    Editor

    Do you have an opinion about this story? Do you have some thoughts you'd like to share with our readers? Plastics News would love to hear from you. Email your letter to Editor at [email protected]

    Most Popular
    1
    Biden sets US goal to replace 90% of plastics with biomaterials
    2
    Nova declares force majeure for PE made at Ontario site
    3
    Engineering resin prices close the first quarter with a drop
    4
    Entek picks Terre Haute, Ind., for $1.5B battery separator plant
    5
    Polymer Points Live March 2023: Commodity resin prices rising, but engineering resins see drops
    SIGN UP FOR OUR FREE NEWSLETTERS
    EMAIL ADDRESS

    Please enter a valid email address.

    Please enter your email address.

    Please verify captcha.

    Please select at least one newsletter to subscribe.

    Get our newsletters

    Staying current is easy with Plastics News delivered straight to your inbox, free of charge.

    Subscribe today

    Subscribe to Plastics News

    Subscribe now
    Connect with Us
    • LinkedIn
    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • Instagram

    Plastics News covers the business of the global plastics industry. We report news, gather data and deliver timely information that provides our readers with a competitive advantage.

    Contact Us

    1155 Gratiot Avenue
    Detroit MI 48207-2997

    Customer Service:
    877-320-1723

    Resources
    • About
    • Staff
    • Editorial Calendar
    • Media Kit
    • Data Store
    • Digital Edition
    • Custom Content
    • People
    • Contact
    • Careers
    • Sitemap
    Related Crain Publications
    • Sustainable Plastics
    • Rubber News
    • Tire Business
    • Urethanes Technology
    Legal
    • Terms and Conditions
    • Privacy Policy
    • Privacy Request
    Copyright © 1996-2023. Crain Communications, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
    • News
      • Processor News
        • Injection Molding
        • Blow Molding
        • Film & Sheet
        • Pipe/Profile/Tubing
        • Rotomolding
        • Thermoforming
        • Recycling
      • Suppliers
        • Machinery
        • Materials
        • Molds/Tooling
        • Product news
        • Design
      • More News
        • K Show
        • Mergers & Acquisitions
        • Sustainability
        • Public Policy
        • Material Insights Videos
        • Numbers that Matter
      • Digital Edition
      • End Markets
        • Automotive
        • Packaging
        • Medical
        • Consumer Products
        • Construction
      • Special Reports
        • Processor of the Year
        • Best Places to Work
        • Women Breaking the Mold
        • Rising Stars
        • Diversity
        • Most Interesting Social Media Accounts in Plastics
      • Newsletters
      • Resin pricing news
      • Videos
    • Opinion
      • The Plastics Blog
      • Kickstart
      • One Good Resin
      • Pellets and Politics
      • All Things Data
      • Viewpoint
      • From Pillar to Post
      • Perspective
      • Mailbag
      • Fake Plastic Trees
    • Shop Floor
      • Blending
      • Compounding
      • Drying
      • Injection Molding
      • Purging
      • Robotics
      • Size Reduction
      • Structural Foam
      • Tooling
      • Training
    • Events
      • K Show Livestream
      • Plastics News Events
        • Plastics News Executive Forum
        • Injection Molding & Design Expo
        • Plastics News Caps & Closures
        • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum
        • Plastics in Automotive
      • Industry Events
      • Injection Molding & Design Expo
      • Livestreams/Webinars
        • PN Live: Mergers and Acquisitions
      • Editorial Livestreams
        • Polymer Points Live
        • Numbers that Matter Live
        • Plastics in Politics Live
        • Sustainable Plastics Live
      • Ask the Expert
      • Plastics News Events Library
        • Plastics Caps & Closures Library
        • Plastics in Healthcare Library
        • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum Library
      • Processor of the Year submissions
    • Rankings & Data
      • Injection Molders
      • Blow Molders
      • Film Sheet
      • Thermoformers
      • Pipe Profile Tubing
      • Rotomolders
      • Mold/Toolmakers
      • LSR Processors
      • Recyclers
      • Compounders - List
      • Association - List
      • Plastic Lumber - List
      • All
    • Directory
    • Resin Prices
      • Commodity TPs
        • Historic Commodity Thermoplastics
      • High Temp TPs
        • Historic High Temp Thermoplastics
      • ETPs
        • Historic Engineering Thermoplastics
      • Thermosets
        • Historic Thermosets
      • Recycled Plastics
        • Historic Recycled Plastics
    • Custom
      • Sponsored Content
      • LS Mtron Sponsored Content
      • Conair Sponsored Content
      • KraussMaffei Sponsored Content
      • ENGEL Sponsored Content
      • White Papers
      • Classifieds
        • Place an Ad
        • Sign up for Early Classified