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
January 04, 2022 08:40 AM

Utah thermoformer eyes growth with new capital partners

Jim Johnson
Staff Writer
Plastics News Staff
  • Tweet
  • Share
  • Share
  • Email
  • More
    Reprints Print
    premiere-main_i.jpg
    Premier Plastics Inc.
    Thermoformer Premier Plastics Inc. has a fresh infusion of cash from new investors to support growth, but current executives are maintaining an ownership stake.

    Salt Lake City-based thermoformer Premier Plastics Inc. is taking on new financial partners with an aim to expand operations.

    Banner Ventures, a private equity firm based near Salt Lake City, is the new lead investor in Premier, which was founded by Jim Holbrook in 1989.

    Holbrook retains what is described as "a meaningful ownership stake" and will remain CEO of the firm, Banner said.

    "What attracted us to Premier was a strong market leadership in the Intermountain West," said Tanner Ainge, managing partner with Lehi, Utah-based Banner, in a Jan. 3 interview.

    For Holbrook, the decision to add partners serves two purposes: helping to fuel expansion and ensuring a future for the firm beyond his working years, he said in an interview.

    Holbrook made it clear, however, that growth is on the front burner as he's not looking to exit the company anytime soon.

    "I'm 60 years old, and there's going to be another chapter of life in the next three to five years. This sets the company up. We feel this is a very strong position for Premier Plastics' growth in the future," he said.
    Joining Banner in the investment are Ron Labrum and Tony Orsini, who co-invested through Seventeen Capital LLC.

    "We firmly believe in Premier Plastics' ability to expand and scale to the next level," Orsini said in a statement.

    Orsini and Labrum both previously worked at Flexan LLC, a maker of molded and extruded rubber, silicone and thermoplastic components, subassemblies and devices for the medical and specialty markets. Labrum was chairman and Orsini was chief operating officer at the company sold last year to ILC Dover LP.

    Premier Plastics currently has about 65 employees, and the new investors have a goal of doubling operations in the next few years. The company's "long and steady growth" over the decades attracted the new investors, Ainge said. "With the investment, Premier will be in a position to rapidly expand capacity to meet what we see as an incredible growth plan," he said.

    The company does have some existing capacity to increase business, but not enough to double sales. That's where the new cash comes in.

    While Ainge said he sees a future where sales can double, Holbrook said he sees the potential for even triple the current total.
    Premier has relied on organic growth over the years, which was fine. But management decided about 18 months ago that there was an even greater opportunity to expand by considering acquisitions. Bringing on additional investors helps fund those aspirations, Holbrook said.
    "For the last 32 years, we have built Premier Plastics into a market leader without any outside capital. We have the team, the capability and the market reputation to double our scale in the near term — but to do so I needed to bring in capital partners," Holbrook said in a statement. "After considering all of our options, I felt like Banner was the right partner to continue building on our great legacy and success."

    "With this partnership, Premier is not only looking to expand its own footprint to service the existing customer base, but we are developing strategic partnerships with new customers as well as looking for acquisitions in the plastics space," Ainge said.

    Premier will consider "smaller or peer-sized competitors" as acquisition candidates, he said.

    Banner was attracted to the investment, its first in plastics, for several reasons. "Really, in this case, it was the chance to invest in a market leader here in our region and the team and the strength of the customer base. Going forward, we think it's going to be a continually strong segment, particularly within the medical device category," Ainge said.

    Premier was No. 79 in the most recent listing of thermoformers in North America compiled by Plastics News. The company had 2020 sales of $16.2 million, including 91 percent from packaging and 9 percent from industrial, and seven thermoforming lines, according to the listing.

    Holbrook, in the interview, said 2021 sales increased to about $19 million.

    RECOMMENDED FOR YOU
    Pipe extruder fined for child labor law violation
    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
    ExxonMobil weighing options for more chemical recycling capacity
    2
    Wilbert Plastic Services adjusts to changes with new owner, leadership
    3
    PepsiCo on a ‘multiyear journey' toward bioplastics
    4
    After years of challenges, can secondary sortation take off?
    5
    Biden sets US goal to replace 90% of plastics with biomaterials
    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