Injection moulding specialist Phillips-Medisize (Hudson, Wisconsin / USA; www.phillipsmedisize.com) has signed a binding agreement to be acquired by interconnect solutions provider Molex (Lisle, Illinois / USA; www.molex.com). Financial details of the deal, which is expected to close in the autumn of this year pending all regulatory approvals, were not disclosed. Seller was private equity firm Golden Gate Capital (San Francisco, California / USA; www.goldengatecap.com), which itself had acquired the Hudson-based company just a couple of years earlier.

Commenting on the deal, Phillips-Medisize CEO Matt Jennings said, “Molex’s global scale in electronics, coupled with Phillips-Medisize’s strength in designing and manufacturing innovative products for medical device customers, will help us become a global leader in connected health solutions.” Tim Ruff, senior vice president of business development and corporate strategy at Molex added that, “Combined with Molex’s expertise in electronics and broad global manufacturing presence, we are confident that together we can significantly expand our medical solutions capabilities globally.”

Phillips-Medisize’s more than 4,300 employees are spread across 17 production sites in the US, Europe, Mexico and China. Founded in 1964, the company last posted sales of more than USD 700m, 80% of which are generated by drug delivery, medical device and diagnostic products. No stranger to acquisitions itself, the company recently acquired Danish medical technology solutions provider Medicom Innovation Partner, expanding its end-to-end injectable and inhalation device innovation service solutions (see Plasteurope.com of 06.06.2016).

Molex purports to be a leading provider of electronic components and solutions. The company, whose sales exceed USD 3.3 bn, was acquired by Koch Industries (Wichita, Kansas / USA; www.kochind.com) in 2013, in a deal valued at USD 7.2 bn (see Plasteurope.com of 03.06.2014). Molex caters to a wide array of end markets, including automotive, industrial, medical, E&E and telecommunications, and sells its products in more than 40 global countries. The company offers a full range of services, from product design and development to manufacturing, with solutions as small as microminiature interconnects and as large as high-performance cable assemblies.

Founded in the US in 1938, Molex’s first step abroad came in the 1970s, and focused on Japan. In 1970, the company opened a production plant in Ireland, followed by another facility in Singapore in 1977. Two years later, Molex’s international sales for the first time exceeded its US sales. In 1986, the group set up a joint venture in India for connector systems, and followed up with a facility in Dongguan, Guangdong / China, established in 1989. Most recently, the group also established a production site in South Korea.