NEW YORK—Arsenal Capital Partners' Polymer Solutions Group, formed in mid-2015, is quickly expanding its operation with the purchase of a key producer of specialty additives and dispersions.
A global maker of specialty polymers and additives, PSG has purchased Flow Polymers L.L.C. from Geneva Glen Capital. Financial details were not disclosed.
Cleveland-based Flow Polymers is a manufacturer of proprietary and custom chemical dispersions, process aids and homogenizing agents for the tire, automotive, industrial, wire and cable, and plastics markets.
Acquiring the business gives PSG a wider range of segments to serve, mainly in the rubber and plastics markets, according to a company spokesman.
It will join specialty polymers and performance chemicals maker Peach State Labs Inc., acquired by Arsenal in June 2015, as the base for PSG, which currently is operating without a central headquarters. That location will depend on future acquisitions, the spokesman said.
Mike Ivany, president and CEO of Flow Polymers, will continue to head the company. He will become the president and CEO—newly created positions—of PSG. He's a 30-year veteran of the chemicals industry.
Ivany said the Flow Polymers management team, which also will remain with the business, “is excited to be working with Arsenal on the PSG platform. Building on successful, long-term growth and leveraging the technical expertise and market leadership of both Flow Polymers and Peach State Labs gives PSG a great foundation from which we will continue to grow.”
Flow Polymers work force will remain unchanged, the spokesman said, and continue to operate out of the company's two plants in Cleveland.
PSG's purchase of Flow Polymers builds on its strategy of creating “a diversified leader of high-value niche solutions serving customers in the polymers and plastics end markets,” according to Sal Gagliardo, an operating partner of the Specialty Industrials Group of New York-headquartered Arsenal.
He said Flow Polymers has a strong presence in automotive and industrial applications while Rome, Ga.-based Peach State “provides a number of unique technologies to the construction and lubricants market.” In addition to its Rome plant, Peach State operates another facility in Dalton, Ga.
Together, they give PSG a solid presence in the flooring, lubricants and tire markets, the spokesman said.
PSG's purchase of Flow Polymers is only the second step in building the PSG business. It's likely that others will follow, according to John Televantos, a partner who co-heads Arsenal's Specialty Industrials Group.
“We will continue to build onto the Flow Polymers acquisition by harvesting on new product launches and additional acquisitions that will enable PSG to better serve its existing customers and enter new markets,” he said.