French PVC compounder Benvic (Chevigny-Saint-Sauveur; www.benvic.com) marked its ninth acquisition since joining Italian-British investment company Investindustrial (London / UK; www.investindustrial.com) in 2018 (see Plasteurope.com of 26.04.2021) by entering the US market with the takeover of speciality compounder Chemres (Princeton, New Jersey; www.chemres.com). The acquisition is expected to allow Benvic to strengthen its exposure in the US medical sector. Details of the deal were not disclosed.

Chemres boasts a strong position in the US contact lens market, and Benvic said the company is a leading provider of commodity and engineering resins, custom compounds and solutions for a variety of sectors, including medical, packaging and wire and cable. The company produces resins at its 38,555m t/y US compounding and logistics facility in Chesapeake, Virginia.

This is Benvic’s second acquisition in 2021, after the purchase of a Celanese (Dallas, Texas / USA; www.celanese.com) production site in Ferrara / Italy earlier this year. The French firm has also expanded operations in and outside its core PVC compounding portfolio through acquisitions. In 2019, Benvic bought Modenplast Medical (Ubersetto di Fioranao Modenese / Italy), a maker of specialised medical-grade vinyl compounds, Luc & Bel (Carpi / Italy), a medical device manufacturer, and Polish PVC compounder Alfa PVC (Warsaw). The firm also took over compatriot PVC recycler Ereplast in 2019.