Packaging specialist IPL Plastics Inc. is expanding in the overcap market by purchasing Springfield, Ohio-area injection molder Tech II Inc.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Tech II was founded in 1969 by Jerry Shiffer, and has been family owned.
“We are very excited about this partnership. IPL will be in position to react quickly in the market with new innovative products as well as increase the overcap portfolio to our customers,” Shawn Kraley, IPL Plastics vice president of sales and marketing, told Plastics News.
No members of the Shiffer family are staying with the firm. Tech II CEO Greg Peters, who previously worked for IPL, will remain with the company.
“The acquisition by IPL, with its plans for growing the Ohio site, is well received by our employees and customers. Not only does it solidify our market-leading position for overcaps and lids, it allows us to expand our product offering to our valued customers,” Peters said.
Tech II started injection molding plastic lids in 1974. The company has two plants in German Township, Ohio, totaling 260,000 square feet, with 186 employees and 26 injection presses.
Tech II molds a broad range of lids and overcaps, with 74 active products used to package coffee, snacks, powdered drinks, microwavable soups and ready-to-eat meals. They include standard overcaps from 2-8 inches in diameter, specialized lids for soup and straw-slot lids for drink cups.
Tech II’s lineup of lids is complementary to products currently made at IPL’s Lee’s Summit, Mo., injection molding plant. Tech II will be known as IPL Dayton, and will become part of IPL’s Consumer Packaging Solutions division.
That division has six locations worldwide, in the United States, Canada, Ireland, Belgium and China.
IPL is a Montreal-based injection molder specializing in in-mold labeled packaging and bulk plastic containers. It has annual sales of about $700 million, 2,000 employees and 15 plants, including nine in North America.
IPL was publicly traded on Toronto’s stock exchange from 2018-2019, when it was purchased by Chicago-based private equity firm Madison Dearborn Partners LLC. IPL originally dates back to 1939 and is one of Canada’s largest plastics manufacturers.
Tech II made headlines in 2011 when it became the first company in North America to thermoform in-mold labeled packaging, using technology from Europe. But the company phased out its thermoforming operations in 2019 to focus on its core injection molding business.
Tech II and the Shiffer family was also known for their part in restoring a vintage B-17 Flying Fortress at the Champaign Aviation Museum at Grimes Field Airport in Urbana, Ohio.
In an unrelated deal, IPL also recently announced plans to buy two units from Coral Products plc for 7.9 million pounds ($10.74 million).
That deal is scheduled to close in February. It includes Coral Products Mouldings Ltd. (CPL), an injection and blow molder of food packaging, personal care, household and automotive products. CPL has 50 presses ranging from 25-1,150 tons of clamping force and operates from a 100,000-square-foot plant in Haydock, England.
The deal also includes Interpack Ltd., a packaging distributor. It does not include two other Coral Products units: Tatra Rotalac Ltd., which specializes in extrusion and injection molding; and Global One-Pak Ltd., a supplier of lotion pumps, triggers and mist sprayers.
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