By Bill Bregar | PLASTICS NEWS STAFF
Posted June 18, 2012 BLOOMER, WIS. (June 18, 5:30 p.m. ET) -- Huron Capital Partners LLC has purchased Bloomer Plastics Inc., and officials of the cast film maker say the Detroit private equity firm will help fund Bloomer’s national expansion plans.
“With the new ownership, I expect a higher level of investment in our assets so that we can grow our business and take our latest technologies to new customers and new markets,” said Kevin Keneally, a packaging and films veteran who is Bloomer Plastics’ new CEO.
Bloomer Plastics makes cast embossed and smooth film and sheet for medical, automotive, release liners and surface protection, among other markets.
Donald West founded the film maker in 1971 in Bloomer, Wis., a small town in Wisconsin’s Chippewa Valley. His son, David West, was running the family business when he died of a heart attack last November. Huron Capital Partners bought the plastics company from his wife, Kimberly West.
The transaction was in process before David West passed away, said Neil Lundgren, Bloomer’s president and general manager.
“For 41-years, we have built a highly-responsive custom films business focused on exceeding our customer needs,” Lundgren said. “We are excited about our new partnership with Huron and we are confident that Huron will be a valuable partner for our employees and for our business’ pursuit of organic growth initiatives and business acquisitions.”
Huron Capital Partners invests in lower middle-market companies, those with sales up to $300 million, typically investing between $10 million and $70 million.
Terms of the transaction for Bloomer Plastics, which Huron termed a recapitalization, were not disclosed.
Since it was founded in 1999, Huron has acquired or invested in 57 companies in the U.S. and Canada, with combined sales of more than $1 billion. Huron currently manages more than $600 million through three private equity funds.
Keneally said he was a consultant for Huron Capital Partners. As the new CEO, he brings more than 20 years of experience in films and packaging. Most recently, he was president of New WinCup Holdings Inc., a maker of expanded polystyrene foam, cups and containers. He also was vice president and general manager of Atlantis Plastics Inc.’s stretch film business. Before Atlantis, he worked for 15 years at Pliant Corp., as vice president of sales and marketing of engineered films.
Keneally and Lundgren both will serve on Bloomer’s board of directors.
Bloomer’s adhesive films are used in automotive interiors, carpet, graphic arts, metal production, packaging, protective films and textiles. They bond to a wide range of substrates. The company’s release liners are used in a range of composite prepreg applications for aerospace and aircraft, industrial, electrical, recreational, marine and medical products.
In the health care market, Bloomer makes a range of films for protective apparel, medical packaging and equipment cover drapes. The company markets films to replace vinyl, for example polypropylene for intravenous bag film.
P&M Corporate Finance LLC was financial adviser to Bloomer Plastics.
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