US firm buys speciality polymers maker Polytek

New York – US private equity firm Arsenal Capital Partners has acquired speciality polymers maker Polytek Development Corp. for an undisclosed price.

It’s the 25th plastics-related deal for the New York City based firm since 2012. Arsenal is acquiring Easton, Pa.-based Polytek from private equity firm Morgenthaler Private Equity of Cleveland.

Polytek’s proprietary specialty polymers, including polyurethane elastomers, casting resins, silicones and latex, are used by customers to create flexible moulds to make highly-detailed objects for a variety of industrial and consumer applications, Arsenal officials said in an 22 Oct news release. Those markets include concrete casting, special effects, tooling, sculpture and prototyping.

They added that Arsenal has experience in that sector via its buildups of PU systems firm Accella Performance Materials and PU foam maker Elite Comfort Solutions.

Polytek “has developed niche technologies in a number of applications, with a strong reputation of innovation and technical support,” Roy Seroussi, Arsenal investment partner, said in the release.

Don Nolan, Polytek board chair, added that his firm “has a track record of successfully acquiring and integrating complementary technologies,” and that the 34-year-old firm “will continue the trajectory of acquiring high-value polymer solutions and expect robust acquisition activity over the next few years.”

MPE has used Polytek as a vehicle for acquisitions since acquiring it in 2015. In 2017, Polytek acquired two California firms — rubber products distributor Raw Material Suppliers of San Marcos and custom formulator California Medical Innovations of Pomona.

Arsenal’s most recent acquisition took place in July, when it used its Carolina Color materials unit to buy Chroma Corp. of McHenry, Ill. It then combined those two firms with two other color producers — Breen Color Concentrates and Hudson Color — under the Chroma name to create an entity with annual sales of more than $150 million (€131 million).

Since being launched in 2000, Arsenal has raised almost $3 billion in investment funds. The firm specialises in investments in middle-market specialty industrials and health care business services companies. Arsenal firm then works with management teams to build strategically important companies with leading market positions, high growth, and high value-add, officials said.