North America's largest rotational molder, Tank Holding Corp., continues to grow in new ways with its latest acquisition, Semco Plastic Co., adding blow molding and injection molding.
Lincoln, Neb.-based Tank Holding acquired St. Louis-based Semco, a high-volume manufacturer of custom products for the recreational, commercial, outdoor, engine and other markets.
Tank Holding cited its interest in adding "adjacent plastic processing technologies."
The goal is to improve Tank Holding's position in custom molding, company officials said of its 19th acquisition in the past three years.
Founded in 1944, Semco produces items such as OEM fuel tanks, portable fuel containers, equipment components, refuse containers and backboards at a 450,000-square-foot manufacturing plant with clean rooms for blow and injection molding.
The acquired company also offers design, tooling, assembly, packaging and shipping services to its diverse customer base in the medical, automotive, power sports, hardware, housewares, lawn and garden, farm, electronics, HVAC, fuel, plumbing, irrigation and food markets.
Tank Holding rotationally molds mostly polyethylene tanks and containers but also proprietary products, such as intermediate bulk containers, insulated material handling bins and specialty pallets.
With an estimated $420 million in annual sales, Tank Holding ranks first among North American rotomolders, according to Plastics News' latest ranking.
The latest acquisition demonstrates Tank Holding's commitment to provide customers more capabilities, according to Tank Holding CEO Greg Wade.
"We believe there is tremendous opportunity for us to utilize blow molding to expand our proprietary product offering while also complementing our commitment to custom molding," Wade said in a news release.
"The addition of blow molding and injection molding capabilities to our vast rotational molding network provides us with the unique position to offer more plastic molding options to our valued customers. Semco, with its successful 75-year history and continuous investment in equipment and capability, delivers the competency and scale we desired to enter into these complementary molding technologies."
The Semco acquisition also provides synergy opportunities with Tank Holding's core business as well as several recent acquisitions, including six last year and Dutchland Plastics LLC this year. All these deals were focused on custom molding and proprietary products.
Tank Holding officials say their brands and molding capabilities provide the broadest product portfolio and largest footprint of manufacturing facilities. The company operated 42 manufacturing plants employing more than 1,700 people throughout North America prior to the Semco acquisition.
Semco had been in the family of CEO Chuck Voelkel for four generations.
"We're proud of our significant investments in the business with modern technology and building expansions to keep up with growth and offer competitive value to our customers," Voelkel said in the release. "As we reached a family decision to sell the business, we quickly concluded that Tank Holding, with its resources and strategy to invest in molding, was the best partner to purchase the business and continue the growth for our employees and customers."
Tank Holding is owned by private equity firm Olympus Partners.