news Cereplast files for bankruptcy
US-based bioplastics maker Cereplast filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on 10 February in a move designed, the company said, to strength- en its balance sheet, clean up its capitalisation structure, and improve financial flexibility as it realigns operations. The company, which
reported a loss of $34.0m on total sales of $2.1m for the nine months to September 2013 and a total debt level of $121m, said the realignment plans would better align its
Frederic Scheer
cost structure to the realities of its markets. “We have taken a number of
steps to improve our opera- tions over the past few months and we were making great progress,” said CEO Frederic Scheer. “However, the lack of traction of bioplastics demand in the United States, the repetitive delays in implemen- tation of the bioplastic regulation in Europe, and especially in Italy, combined with the legal problems created by several of our lenders made clear to our Board that reorganisation was the proper path forward.”
The lender problems include moves by Horizon Technology Finance to convert the Chapter 11 filing to a Chapter 7 filing (which would see Cereplast wound up). Horizon claims Cereplast is in breach of loans. Cereplast’s Scheer spelt
out the company’s financial troubles in detail, and revealed plans to split operations in two, in a letter to shareholders published on 10 March (
http://bit.ly/1lve1iw). ❙
www.cereplast.com
Plastipak acquires Constar assets in the US
Plastipak Packaging has secured the US assets of PET packaging producer Constar at a court-supervised bankruptcy auction. The company beat off an earlier Amcor bid to acquire the Constar assets, which include six production plants
with annual sales of around $190m. Plastipak chief commercial
officer Frank Pollack said the company was “extremely pleased” with the purchase. “We are confident that this
transaction will enable us to better serve our existing and
future customers,” he said. Constar filed for bankruptcy
in December of last year, the third time it had filed for Chapter 11 protection in six years.
Constar’s operations, which include units in the UK and the Netherlands, were not included
People on the move
Engel has appointed Jens Thor Hansen as its new managing director for Sweden, Denmark and Norway. Hansen is an
experienced plastics processing manager with expertise in medical and cleanroom production technology, both key growth markets for Engel in the Scandinavian market.
Jens Thor Hansen 8
Milacron has announced the appointment of Bruce Catoen to the post of chief technology officer. Catoen was formerly chief technology officer for Mold-Masters, which was acquired by Milacron last year. He is charged with developing a three-year product technol- ogy road map for the group.
INJECTION WORLD | March 2014
improve service to customers in key focus industries such as automotive, E&E, construc- tion and healthcare, as well as tying research more closely in with industry trends.
Rob Buntinx
Styrolution has established a new customer innovation unit – Global Focus Industries and R&D – to be headed up by Rob Buntinx. His role will be to
Victoria M Holt has been appointed president and CEO of fast parts manufacturer Proto Labs. Holt has broad experience in the US manu- facturing and chemical industries, most recently as president and CEO of polymer sheet and compounds maker Spartech Corporation.
www.injectionworld.com
in the Plastipak deal. Constar International UK has reportedly been acquired by turnaround investor Greybull Capital via Sherburn Acquisitions. Ownership of Constar Interna- tional Holland is not clear. ❙
www.plastipak.com ❙
www.constaruk.com
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