BETHEL, Vt.—GW Plastics Inc., a custom injection molder and contract manufacturer based in Bethel, is acquiring Ireland-based mold building and injection molding company Avenue Mould Solutions.
The acquisition is in response to growing customer demand in the medical device market, according to a July 19 news release. Avenue, which is located in Sligo in the northwest of Ireland, has capabilities in building ultra-high-cavitation tooling for that sector.
"GW Plastics is thrilled to partner with the Avenue team," said Brenan Riehl, president and CEO of GW Plastics, in a statement. "Avenue Mould Solutions brings to GW Plastics an experienced and highly-skilled advanced manufacturing workforce, an award-winning mold-building company, and a growing medical device contract manufacturing business that has been successfully serving Ireland and other markets for 30 years."
Felim McNeela, Avenue's managing director and a founder, said the Avenue team was drawn to the capital and resources the partnership will bring to Avenue. Avenue will continue to serve its existing customers as well as offer mold-building services, he said in a statement.
The Ireland operation will be GW Plastics' first reach into Europe. In addition to operations in Vermont, Texas and Arizona, GW Plastics has plants in Queretaro, Mexico, and Dongguan, China. The company in late 2015 expanded its facility in Royalton, Vt., to accommodate its growing medical device business, and earlier this year announced plans to convert a San Antonio, Texas, warehouse into manufacturing space also to handle health care work, along with automotive business.
GW Plastics won Plastics News' 2009 Processor of the Year Award and 2016 Sustained Excellence Award.