By Frank Esposito
SENIOR STAFF REPORTER
Published: October 13, 2014 8:06 am ET
Updated: October 13, 2014 12:35 pm ET
Citadel Plastics Inc. is growing again, this time acquiring thermoset compounder and molder The Composites Group for an undisclosed price.
Highland Heights, Ohio-based TCG operates three businesses: Hadlock Plastics of Geneva, Ohio; Premix Inc. of North Kingsville, Ohio; and Quantum Composites Inc. in Bay City, Mich. The three units employ about 500 and have combined annual sales of about $100 million.
Buying TCG “expands [Citadel] into engineering composites, in terms of scale and new technologies,” Citadel CEO Mike Huff said in a phone interview. Those new products include sheet molding compounds and high-performance composites, he added.
“We’re really excited,” Huff said. “This is a game-changer for us. It moves us into new markets and new customer relations in areas like oil and gas, aerospace and defense.”
West Chicago, Ill.-based Citadel is buying TCG from private equity firm Highlander Partners LP of Dallas. Highlander formed TCG in early 2011 by buying Premix — which already included Quantum — and merging it with Hadlock. TCG CEO Terry Morgan will remain with the firm after the acquisition.
The deal is the eighth acquisition for Citadel since its formation in 2007. The firm is owned by private equity firm HGGC of Palo Alto, Calif. The addition of TCG will give Citadel annual sales of about $500 million.
Citadel has found itself in the spotlight recently with the Perfect Bacon Bowl, a food mold that uses Citadel’s Micropure-brand thermoset materials. Commercials and infomercials for the product have resulted in more than 2 million Perfect Bacon Bowls being sold since late 2013.
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