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Airlite moves into extrusion


Airlite Plastics, a US producer of injection moulded packaging, has moved into extrusion with the acquisition of S&L Plastics.


S&L Plastics, a privately


owned plastics manufactur- ing company, was founded in the late 1940s. Its products include


Nylaflow tubing (high performance tubing), Nylatron extrusion (profile shapes for uses such as wear surfaces, guide rails and edge protectors) and Orthoform extrusions (sheet extrusion for orthopedic and prosthetic applications). Its manufacturing facility


will continue to operate as before, and all products and trade names will remain the same – though the S&L Plastics name will disap- pear in time. “We are excited to add


the products, plastic processing capabilities and skilled employees from S&L Plastics,” said Brad Crosby president and CEO of Airlite Plastics.


“The addition of this


facility provides us with new capabilities, markets and an Eastern location allowing for future growth opportunities.” Airlite is based in Omaha, Nebraska in the midwest, while S&L’s factory is in Nazareth, Pennsylvania. ❙ www.airliteplastics.com


4


Georg Fischer buys into US pipes market again


Georg Fischer has acquired US pipes and fittings manufac- turer Independent Pipe Products (IPP), further strengthening its position in the North American water infrastructure market. The move comes six months after it bought US-based PVC pipes manufac- turer Harvel Plastics for $50m. Financial details of the IPP


takeover have not been released. Georg Fischer will acquire all the outstanding shares of IPP in the deal, which is expected to be completed during May 2012. IPP, based in Dallas, was


founded in 1996 with a focus on large diameter PE fittings. In 2009 it expanded into large PE pipes. A year later it


opened a second plant in Abbeville, South Carolina, to serve the growing demand for large diameter PE pipes, up to 1.6m in diameter. Today, it generates sales of $50m and employs 94 people. GF Piping Systems, the


pipes division of Georg Fischer, employs more than 5,000 people, and generated sales of


about CHF1.2bn ($1.3bn) in 2011. Yves Serra, CEO of Georg Fischer said: “The acquisition of IPP is a further step towards implementing our strategy. The company has had great success in supplying large PE piping systems, and ideally complements our offering.” ❙ www.georgfischer.com


Serra: “IPP acquisition is a further step in our strategy” Nova sells styrenics to PFB


Nova Chemicals Corporation is to sell its performance styrenics business to PFB Corporation, which includes its expandable polystyrene (EPS) and Arcel products. At the same time, Nova will


acquire an equity stake in PFB and hold two seats on its board. Robert Snyder, vice president of Nova’s performance styrenics division, will become chief operating officer of PFB International Corporation. The deal is likely to be


closed in the second half of this year. “We are extremely excited


to have Nova Chemicals’ experience and quality EPS


PIPE & PROFILE EXTRUSION | May/June 2012


resins become a part of our business,” said Alan Smith, CEO of PFB.


PFB supplies a variety of insulating building products. This acquisition will help it to expand its product offerings to the USA, in a ‘mirror’ opera- tion to its Plasti-Fab business in Canada. Bruce Carruthers, CEO of


Plasti-Fab, said: “With the world now focusing on sustain- able building products, it is the time for our industry to provide vertically-integrated EPS product solutions that provide environmentally friendly alternatives to the construc- tion industry.”


Full-year sales at PFB for


2011 rose by 27% to reach $89m. At the same time, profits more than doubled to $3.2m. PFB reported a 6.5%


increase in sales in the first quarter of this year, to $16.6m, though the company made a loss of $760,000 in the period. PFB said that the first quarter is “typically the weakest” of its reporting periods. Nova Chemicals, based in Calgary, Canada, is a subsid- iary of the International Petroleum Investment Company (IPIC), of the United Arab Emirates. ❙ www.novachem.com ❙ www.pfbcorp.com


www.pipeandprofile.com


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