LandStar Inc. purchases PolyTek

PHOENIX (Jan. 10)—Rubber recycling firm LandStar Inc. has purchased the outstanding shares of PolyTek Rubber & Recycling Inc., the world´s largest crumb rubber producer, for an undisclosed amount. The purchase includes PolyTek´s crumb rubber operations in Queen Creek, Ariz., and Bristow, Okla., as well as facilities in Chambersburg, Pa., and Flat Rock, Mich., that PolyTek bought last June from NRI Industries Inc. LandStar plans to spend about $5 million at these facilities to retrofit them with equipment for the firm´s "Activated Modified Rubber" devulcanization process, as well as continue to sell crumb rubber to various customers, according to Terry Karpiuk, LandStar vice president of corporate relations. "In order for us to be successful, we obviously need crumb rubber," Karpiuk said. PolyTek has consolidated revenues of $17 million, according to LandStar. Also, LandStar acquired the crumb rubber assets of Rubber Recovery Ltd. for $250,000. This purchase includes a long-term tire disposal contract with Bridgestone/Firestone Inc. and a long-term crumb rubber supply contract with an unnamed consumer products manufacturer which LandStar is renegotiating, the company said. The aggregate value of these contracts is about $48 million, according to LandStar.