M&As: Arsenal invests in elastomer firm; Infinity Recycling invests in Ioniqa PET recycling firm

Private equity firm Arsenal Capital Partners has announced that it has completed a majority investment in Polycorp Ltd, a Canadian manufacturer of engineered elastomer solutions. The terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Polycorp is headquartered in Elora, Ontario, and employs approximately 250 full-time staff. The company serves its global customer base with rubber- and polyurethane- based elastomer solutions, that help reduce corrosion, abrasion, vibration, and noise. Polycorp's leading engineering and design services, combined with its moulding, calendering, and extrusion capabilities, underpin its success serving mission-critical, infrastructure and industrial focused applications for the mineral processing, rail, and protective linings industries.

"The transaction with Arsenal will accelerate Polycorp's strategic growth initiatives and enable additional investment in our manufacturing and R&D capabilities, human capital, and strategic acquisitions," said Peter Snucins, founder of Polycorp. "I am especially excited to partner with Arsenal given the firm's established track record of building leading materials technology businesses in the elastomers sector."

Following the closing, Peter Snucins will remain as an investor and Board member of Polycorp.

Brett Schneider, an Operating Partner of Arsenal, commented, "The company's portfolio of capabilities is a natural fit for Arsenal, given our previous successful experiences investing in elastomeric and polymeric technologies, such as rubber and polyurethanes."

"We are excited to partner with Polycorp given the company's best-in-class elastomeric technologies and customer service capabilities," added Dan Bruck, a Principal of Arsenal.

Meanwhile, in other news, Ioniqa Technologies BV, a clean tech spinoff from the Eindhoven University of Technology (the Netherlands), has announced a significant growth investment by Infinity Recycling (IRC)’s Circular Plastics Fund to help accelerate the scale-up and roll out of its enhanced PET polyester recycling technology.

Ioniqa’s technology upcycles low-grade post-consumer plastic waste to a virgin-like quality feedstock. With the ability to process coloured plastic waste flakes Ioniqa’s technology offers a solution to process PET waste that is currently non-recyclable, creating a recycled material suitable for high quality food grade applications.

Ioniqa has successfully demonstrated this technology in an industrial production facility in the Netherlands, and is now bringing it to market with strategic licensing partner Koch Technology Solutions.

Infinity Recycling provides growth capital to those companies that can help accelerate the creation of a circular economy for plastics, and subsequently helps them to scale. Ioniqa’s enhanced recycling solution stands out by complementing existing recycling technologies with a cost-efficient solution, therewith catalysing the scale up of the industry as a whole.

Tonnis Hooghoudt, Founder/CEO of Ioniqa, said, "Developing a groundbreaking new technology like ours is a matter of patience, dedication and funding. With this investment by IRC we can further extend Ioniqa’s horizon with a view to successfully launch industrial licenses for new customer plants worldwide. Furthermore, the investment allows Ioniqa to broaden the types of feedstocks it can process by adding Polyester fibres to our scope.”

Jeroen Kelder, Managing Partner at Infinity Recycling, commented, "we have followed Tonnis and the team for a few years now and are thrilled to help the company further scale up and roll out its groundbreaking technology. The world is in urgent need of circular solutions for the plastics packaging and clothing markets. Ioniqa has developed an efficient solution that can turn low grade PET (and polyester) waste into materials suitable for high quality food grade or clothing applications.”

Arie Hooimeijer, Infinity Recycling’s Head of Investments said, “We are looking forward to working with the Ioniqa team and its partner Koch Technology Solutions to accelerate the company’s success and deliver real impact for our stakeholders and most importantly for the environment.”

Infinity Recycling was established in 2019 to create markets for end-of-life waste streams by investing in advanced technologies that enable circularity in the plastics industry. Its first offering, the Circular Plastics Fund, contributes to solving the plastic waste problem and unlocking much-needed capacity in high- in-demand recycled commodities. The fund implements a return and impact-driven investment strategy that drives value creation in advanced recycling and accelerates the transition to a circular economy for plastics. Building on the momentum in investor interest and deployment, the fund is well on its way to final closing, projected for Q1 2024.

SUBSCRIBE to Get the Latest Updates from PRA    Click Here»