Michigan company purchases Techniplas’ Ankeny plant
| BY MICHAEL CRUMB, Senior Staff Writer, Des Moines Business Record |
Monday, July 6, 2020 11:24 AM
Revere Plastics Systems LLC has acquired the Ankeny facility of Techniplas LLC, with hopes of expanding its customer base and restoring the plant’s workforce, company officials said.
The acquisition was part of the Novi, Mich.-based company’s purchase of other Techniplas facilities through Techniplas’ bankruptcy sales process. Revere also purchased the Techniplas plant in Auburn, Ala., increasing its manufacturing footprint from five to seven locations. It also operates in Clyde, Ohio; Jeffersonville, Ind.; Fraser, Mich.; Poplar Bluff, Mo.; and Brampton, Ontario.
Revere employs more than 1,000 people in its manufacturing, technical and sales facilities, according to a release.
The acquired facilities will focus on plastic injection molding for the automotive, outdoor power equipment, medical, HVAC and other markets.
Revere CEO Glen Fish said in a release that the acquisition gives the company a presence where demand already exists. It will also allow the company to expand its customer base, he said.
According to the release, the new plants will be operated as Revere facilities using existing equipment, workforce and infrastructure.
“We’re a very community-oriented company,” Fish said. “We’re looking forward to getting operations up and running as soon as possible.”
Doug Drummond, Revere’s vice president of sales and marketing, said the Ankeny location fits into Revere’s plans for growth.
“Having a facility in that area, it just immediately opens up our opportunities to serve our existing customer base, but it also gives us access to other companies and industries in those geographic areas that are really attractive for Revere’s overall growth plans,” Drummond told the Business Record.
He said that he did not know the immediate employment level at the Ankeny site, but that Revere plans to keep as many employees as possible.
“Operationally, we’re doing everything we can to keep as many of the employees as we can because they are a big success of that facility,” he said.
Drummond said that while Revere acquired Techniplas’ facility, equipment and workforce, it did not acquire its customer base. He said Revere is working diligently with customers who did business with Techniplas, and said some of that business is already beginning to return.
“We are going to try to build employment levels back up as high as we can,” Drummond said. “All the infrastructure, support and operators are there right now, so it’s not a shuttered facility, for sure.”
Although Drummond could not offer a timeline, he said Revere hopes to expand its customer base and employment levels at the Ankeny facility.
“Our goal is to not only build the plant up, but find ways to add more to it,” he said.
Techniplas, based in Nashotah, Wis., filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in May after a deal with a private equity firm fell through as the coronavirus pandemic tightened its grip on the nation.
According to the Milwaukee Biz Times, Techniplas had $175 million in outstanding notes that were set to mature on May 1, and more than $17 million in borrowing due under a credit agreement.
The company had 721 employees when it filed for bankruptcy. It had let go another 190 just before the filing as it began closing the Ankeny and Auburn plants. Although the company’s Wisconsin and Iowa operations saw combined increases in sales last year, the company experienced a net loss of $21 million in 2019.
