SEBASTOPOL -- Innovative Molding, Inc., a maker of plastic closures for bottles and jars that is planning a big expansion to Rohnert Park this fall, is set to be acquired in a $27 million cash deal announced today by Michigan-based TriMas Corp. (Nasdaq: TRS).
Bloomfield Hills, Mich.-based TriMas plans to integrate Innovative Molding into its Auburn, Ind.-based Rieke Packaging Systems business. The acquisition of Innovative Molding stock is set to be completed Monday.
Innovative Molding President Grahame Reid started the injection-molding company in 1982. It has a 85,000-square-foot design and manufacturing plant in Sebastopol and opened a similarly sized plant in Atkins, Ark., in 2009.
In May the company signed a five-year lease for 120,000 square feet of administration, development and production space at Sonoma Mountain Village in Rohnert Park. The space is being designed for 110 employees.
TriMas supports the expansion plan, which was in progress before the acquisition deal, according to a spokeswoman.
In a TriMas earnings conference all this morning, David Wathen, president and chief executive officer, said Innovative Molding fits the packaging strategy "perfectly."
"Unique solutions, strong intellectual property protection, a track record of continuous growth and people who are innovative, dedicated, and good at their jobs," he said. "For Rieke, it increases the content in food applications which is a growing end market, and we have the ability to leverage Rieke’s global footprint and manufacturing costs."
Lynn Brooks, Rieke president and leader of the TriMas Packaging business segment, said she sees additional opportunities to grow by bringing the Rieke and Innovative Molding together.
TriMas called Innovative Molding "a technology leader in the design, lining and manufacturing of specialty plastic closures for bottles and jars for the food and nutrition industries."
Innovative Molding holds a number of patents on closures, container finishes, molds and tooling and maintains in-house engineering and fabrication of its own tooling and support equipment. Company revenue for 12 months through May was $28 million, according to TriMas.
Rieke started in 1921. It makes and distributes premium-quality packaging products -- particularly, steel and plastic closure caps, drum enclosures, ring and levers, and specialty dispensing systems -- for the commercial, industrial and consumer sectors worldwide.
TriMas has six business segments: Packaging, Energy, Aerospace & Defense, Engineered Components, Cequent Asia Pacific and Cequent North America. It employs about 4,000 employees at more than 60 facilities in 11 countries.
