Teknor Apex (Pawtucket, Rhode Island / USA; www.teknorapex.com) on 31 March acquired a second manufacturing site in Europe, after completing its takeover of long-term partner PTS Plastic-Technologie-Service (Adelshofen-Tauberzell / Germany; www.pts-marketing.de). Financial details of the deal, which brings together two custom compounders, were not disclosed. The German company, which will continue to supply its existing brands, operates a 20,000 t/y compounding facility in Steinfeld / Germany, and also runs a technical support facility as well as a marketing office. Its total workforce exceeds 100.

“The acquisition of PTS is a natural fit in the strategic vision of Teknor Apex to support the market with a global footprint and local presence,” said Teknor Apex CEO and chairman Jonathan Fain. The two companies had been collaborating for 15 years, as part of a range of licensing agreements. In addition, PTS had been producing TPE and ETP compounds for Teknor Apex as part of a tolling agreement for the past year. PTA founder Uwe Stenglin will remain the company’s managing director.

The German group is considered to be “the European leader in developing ‘hard/soft’ solutions that combine elastomers with rigid polymers,” said Teknor Apex’s Suresh Swaminathan. PTS’ proprietary specialities include the hard/soft technology for over-moulding TPE onto polar ETP substrates, including PA and acetal, and producing a durable bond. The company is also a specialist manufacturer of radiation-crosslinked grades of ETPs and TPEs.

Teknor Apex’s other European compounding facility is located in Genk / Belgium. The US group also manufactures compounds in the US, Singapore and China.