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Alcan acquires urethane core manufacturer
Industry news
Alcan acquires urethane core manufacturer ALCAN, Montreal, Canada, has announced an agreement-inprinciple to acquire the business and assets of Penske Composites LLC, a US manufacturer of urethane core materials. The transaction is expected to be completed in early December. Penske, based in Mount Juliet, Tennessee, employs 36 people and had revenues of US$4.6 million in 2005. The company's Xtreme brand products are used in the US marine and industrial markets in applications such as transoms and stringer systems. Penske's products will add to Alcan Composites’ range of foam and balsa core materials. “This acquisition would also give Alcan further entry
into developing markets, currently served by other Alcan Composites product lines in the display and sandwich construction industries,” according to Alcan Composites’ president Georg Reif. “We are pleased to have found a strategic buyer in Alcan,” Herman Novak, executive vice president of Penske Composites, commented on the acquisition. “I am convinced that Alcan’s marketing and sales organisation will help the business to substantially improve its market position as the demand for core material products continues to grow.” Alcan Composites; www.alcancomposites.com
Core Molding Technologies to purchase Premix CORE MOLDING Technologies Inc of Columbus, Ohio, USA, has signed a Letter of Intent to acquire Premix Holding Co, a privately-held US manufacturer of thermoset compounds and a moulder of composite products. The acquisition is expected to close early next year. Premix is based in North Kingsville, Ohio, and also has operations in Bay City, Michigan. It had sales of approximately US$75 million for its 2006 fiscal year. Premix serves a range of industries including appliance, electrical, light vehicle, construction and marine. Core says that it expects to continue running Premix’s existing operations.
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The Premix acquisition is in line with Core's strategy. “We believe the acquisition of Premix strongly supports our market diversification strategy and helps mitigate the cyclical nature of our existing businesses,” says James L. Simonton, Core Molding Technologies’ president and chief executive officer. Core Molding Technologies is a compounder of sheet moulding compound (SMC) and moulder of composite products for the truck, car, personal watercraft and other markets. It operates plants in Ohio, South Carolina, and Mexico. Core Molding Technologies; www.coremt.com
DIAB doubles US foam capacity CORE MATERIALS manufacturer DIAB is planning to double foam core capacity at its DeSoto, Texas, USA, facility by May 2007. In January 2007 DIAB Inc's recently expanded kit line will also come on-stream. DIAB says it has invested in product re-formulations, equipment additions and modifications and plant space at DeSoto. The company has also invested in equipment upgrades designed to add capacity, streamline production and expand finishing. The company says that the re-formulation of Divinycell H grade has resulted in improved mechanical properties and more efficient production. The experiences learned in modifying H grade are being applied to the manufacture of Divinycell HP and Divinycell HT. The new kit line will increase the capacity and capability of fabricating Divinycell into customer specified shapes. This growth has required additional space and so DIAB has moved non-process related personnel to adjacent off-site facilities, freeing up plant space. DIAB has also just announced that it will be opening a kit manufacturing facility in China alongside its existing Kunshan (Shanghai) operation. This will be fully operational by April 2007. Asia is the fastest growing region for the company's products; it says it is seeing particularly high growth rates in the marine, wind energy and surface transport sectors. DIAB; www.diabgroup.com
People Pete Emrich, vice president of research at Molded Fiber Glass Companies, was awarded the 2006 President’s Award by the American Composites Manufacturers Association (ACMA) at the Composites & Polycon 2006 tradeshow in St Louis, Missouri, this October. Louis H.T. Dehmlow III, former president of Great Lakes Synergy Corp and founder of Composites One, was posthumously awarded the ACMA 2006 Lifetime Achievement Award. Royce Newsom, of Venetian Marble, and Terry McCabe, Interplastic Corp, were also inducted into the ACMA's Hall of Fame. High Modulus has put in place a new organisational structure and appointed new personnel to support its growth plans. Richard Downs-Honey becomes chief executive officer, Brian Jones, engineering business development director, Michael Eaglen, engineering consultancy division manager, Murray Greenhalgh, general manager - materials, Nina Heatley, engineered products division manager, and Phil Davenport, research and development manager. Alex Shimell, previously with Gurit, becomes general manager - Europe. LM Glasfiber has appointed Richard Peter Hanson, cofounder and COO, Doughty Hanson & Co, as chairman of its Supervisory Board, taking over from Mark Florman, who leaves the Board to concentrate on other Doughty Hanson companies.
December 2006
06/12/2006 15:02:11
Alcan acquires urethane core manufacturer ALCAN, Montreal, Canada, has announced an agreement-inprinciple to acquire the business and assets of Penske Composites LLC, a US manufacturer of urethane core materials. The transaction is expected to be completed in early December. Penske, based in Mount Juliet, Tennessee, employs 36 people and had revenues of US$4.6 million in 2005. The company's Xtreme brand products are used in the US marine and industrial markets in applications such as transoms and stringer systems. Penske's products will add to Alcan Composites’ range of foam and balsa core materials. “This acquisition would also give Alcan further entry
into developing markets, currently served by other Alcan Composites product lines in the display and sandwich construction industries,” according to Alcan Composites’ president Georg Reif. “We are pleased to have found a strategic buyer in Alcan,” Herman Novak, executive vice president of Penske Composites, commented on the acquisition. “I am convinced that Alcan’s marketing and sales organisation will help the business to substantially improve its market position as the demand for core material products continues to grow.” Alcan Composites; www.alcancomposites.com
Core Molding Technologies to purchase Premix CORE MOLDING Technologies Inc of Columbus, Ohio, USA, has signed a Letter of Intent to acquire Premix Holding Co, a privately-held US manufacturer of thermoset compounds and a moulder of composite products. The acquisition is expected to close early next year. Premix is based in North Kingsville, Ohio, and also has operations in Bay City, Michigan. It had sales of approximately US$75 million for its 2006 fiscal year. Premix serves a range of industries including appliance, electrical, light vehicle, construction and marine. Core says that it expects to continue running Premix’s existing operations.
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REINFORCEDplastics
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The Premix acquisition is in line with Core's strategy. “We believe the acquisition of Premix strongly supports our market diversification strategy and helps mitigate the cyclical nature of our existing businesses,” says James L. Simonton, Core Molding Technologies’ president and chief executive officer. Core Molding Technologies is a compounder of sheet moulding compound (SMC) and moulder of composite products for the truck, car, personal watercraft and other markets. It operates plants in Ohio, South Carolina, and Mexico. Core Molding Technologies; www.coremt.com
DIAB doubles US foam capacity CORE MATERIALS manufacturer DIAB is planning to double foam core capacity at its DeSoto, Texas, USA, facility by May 2007. In January 2007 DIAB Inc's recently expanded kit line will also come on-stream. DIAB says it has invested in product re-formulations, equipment additions and modifications and plant space at DeSoto. The company has also invested in equipment upgrades designed to add capacity, streamline production and expand finishing. The company says that the re-formulation of Divinycell H grade has resulted in improved mechanical properties and more efficient production. The experiences learned in modifying H grade are being applied to the manufacture of Divinycell HP and Divinycell HT. The new kit line will increase the capacity and capability of fabricating Divinycell into customer specified shapes. This growth has required additional space and so DIAB has moved non-process related personnel to adjacent off-site facilities, freeing up plant space. DIAB has also just announced that it will be opening a kit manufacturing facility in China alongside its existing Kunshan (Shanghai) operation. This will be fully operational by April 2007. Asia is the fastest growing region for the company's products; it says it is seeing particularly high growth rates in the marine, wind energy and surface transport sectors. DIAB; www.diabgroup.com
People Pete Emrich, vice president of research at Molded Fiber Glass Companies, was awarded the 2006 President’s Award by the American Composites Manufacturers Association (ACMA) at the Composites & Polycon 2006 tradeshow in St Louis, Missouri, this October. Louis H.T. Dehmlow III, former president of Great Lakes Synergy Corp and founder of Composites One, was posthumously awarded the ACMA 2006 Lifetime Achievement Award. Royce Newsom, of Venetian Marble, and Terry McCabe, Interplastic Corp, were also inducted into the ACMA's Hall of Fame. High Modulus has put in place a new organisational structure and appointed new personnel to support its growth plans. Richard Downs-Honey becomes chief executive officer, Brian Jones, engineering business development director, Michael Eaglen, engineering consultancy division manager, Murray Greenhalgh, general manager - materials, Nina Heatley, engineered products division manager, and Phil Davenport, research and development manager. Alex Shimell, previously with Gurit, becomes general manager - Europe. LM Glasfiber has appointed Richard Peter Hanson, cofounder and COO, Doughty Hanson & Co, as chairman of its Supervisory Board, taking over from Mark Florman, who leaves the Board to concentrate on other Doughty Hanson companies.
December 2006
06/12/2006 15:02:11