Modern Plastics Worldwide - October 2007 - dae uptlax

FIRST LOOK
In Brief
Brahe to Bayer
Bayer MaterialScience (Leverkusen,
Germany) will acquire PUR systems
house Brahe A.S. (Cerekvice, Czech
Republic, near the Polish border). It
will be integrated into the BaySystems
network under the name BaySystems
CentralEurope. Brahe was previously
owned by T.P. Holding. Financial
details were not released.
HT Troplast sold
Investment banks Carlyle Group and
Advent International sold window
profile and siding processor HT Troplast
(Troisdorf, Germany) to an
investment group in the Middle East,
Arcapita Bank BCS (Manama,
Bahrain), for an undisclosed sum.
Rohm and Haas JV
Rohm and Haas (Philadelphia, PA)
and Weihai Jinhong Polymer (Weihai,
China) have formally opened their
joint venture, Jinhong Rohm and
Haas Chemical (JinHaas), to produce
methacrylate butadiene styrene
(MBS), acrylic impact modifiers, and
acrylic processing aids for distribution
in China and other emerging markets.
Adding Unitemp service
Taking advantage of the closure earlier
this year of German hot runner
manufacturer Unitemp, hot runner
manufacturer HRSflow (San Polo di
Piave, Italy) has hired former Unitemp
employees for its technical and sales
departments. The new employees
enable HRSflow to service Unitemp
hot runners in the field.
Strong Turkish showing
According to the latest figures from
the Turkish plastics association,
(PAGEV; Istanbul), the country’s processing
capacity is growing annually at
15% and is expected to convert 13
million tonnes of resin by 2014.
Is an offer in the offing
for Quadrant?
Quadrant’s products include composite panels
that are used to replace plywood in building
formwork systems.
Swiss semifinished composite parts supplier
Quadrant (Zurich), which also
includes a large European injection
molding business unit, reports it has
declined a request from Cheyne Special
Situations Fund LP and private equity
firm BC Partners, both based in London,
Hasco sold to
Berndorf
Berndorf, an Austrian firm manufacturing
steel belts and chains, in late August
acquired 74.9% of Hasco (Lüdenscheid,
Germany), which is a manufacturer of
mold components and hot runners, for
an undisclosed sum. A 21.1% stake in
Hasco remains in the hands of the
Hasenclever family. Hasco employs
about 1100 and is represented in 40
countries. The firm’s 2007 sales will hit
roughly €1.590 billion with positive
profitability, says the firm.
Franz Viehböck is the new managing
director, coming to the firm from Berndorf
Band, the largest plant at the Berndorf
site in lower Austria.
Industry News & Analysis
to grant an exclusive pre-offer due diligence
in advance of a possible public
offer for all outstanding Quadrant
shares. Subject to satisfactory due diligence,
a possible price range of CHF 300
to CHF 330 per share was mentioned,
far above the then-quoted price of about
CHF176.80. Due diligence was said to
be a condition for a significant part of
the financing of the transaction.
On Wednesday, August 29, Quadrant’s
board of directors declined the preoffer
due diligence request of the two
applicants. The board says a highly leveraged
takeover and subsequent privatization
of the publicly traded Quadrant
would jeopardize the further pursuit of
the board’s growth strategy. Further, the
board is convinced that the publicly
available information on Quadrant is
sufficient for a possible public offer in
the mentioned price range. Quadrant
would not comment further.
Quadrant is one of the world’s largest
suppliers of semifinished composite
parts, and currently has locations in 18
countries, more than 2400 employees,
and annual sales exceeding CHF 800
million ($665 million).
Hasco’s new managing director is
Franz Viehböck.
10 OCTOBER 2007 • MODERN PLASTICS WORLDWIDE modplas.com