M&As: Ascend completes purchase of Poliblend and Esseti Plast; Maag acquires digital solutions company

As part of its global growth strategy, US firm Ascend Performance Materials has completed its acquisition of Italian firms Poliblend and Esseti Plast. With this purchase, Ascend expands its portfolio into other engineered plastics, recycled resins and masterbatches.

As part of the purchase, Ascend establishes its second production facility in Europe. The acquisition also includes Poliblend Deutschland, a distribution facility located in Germany.

Announced in February 2020, the acquisition was put on hold as Covid-19 cases spiked in Italy and then in the US.

“Poliblend and Esseti Plast complement our current business exceptionally well,” said John Saunders, Ascend’s vice president of Europe. “Our experience as a large-scale, fully integrated polyamide 66 manufacturer coupled with Poliblend’s portfolio of recycled and virgin PA66, PA6 and POM, and Esseti Plast’s extensive masterbatch operations will offer our customers more choices for quality, high performance materials on a global scale.”

“This acquisition, coupled with our new compounding facility in China, will allow us to serve our customers locally around the globe,” Phil McDivitt, Ascend’s President/CEO. “We now have production, product development and testing capabilities in North America, Asia and Europe, giving us additional scale to respond to our customers. Furthermore, a product developed for a customer in Europe can be quickly replicated and produced across the globe to meet shifting supply chain needs.”

Meanwhile, in other news, Switzerland-based Maag Group, a solutions provider for process technology, says it has strengthened its digital capabilities by acquiring Germany-based XanTec Steuerungs-und EDV Technik GmbH (XanTec).

XanTec plans, designs and manufactures advanced industrial control systems that are employed in production plants, pelletising systems and extruders, thereby improving process control and machine intelligence to reduce cost and improve quality.

“Thoughtfully applied digital technologies enable Maag to provide world-class intelligent, agile and competitive solutions to our customers. This acquisition fits perfectly with our strategy to strengthen our digital capabilities,” said Ueli Thuerig, President of Maag. “Additionally, this acquisition is aligned with our goal to continue expanding our portfolio with industry-leading systems and solutions.”

XanTec Managing Director, Hilger Schürmann, stated, “We are excited to partner with the Maag Group and appreciate the recognition of XanTec’s solutions and technology. Digitalisation is an important trend in our industry, even more so in today’s economic environment. XanTec has a portfolio of digital products and solutions that holds incredible promise to generate new sources of value.”

(PRA)

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