MacNeil Automotive Products Ltd. is in the early stages of reviewing interest from potential buyers, including some private equity firms, according to a report by PE Hub.
The company, owned by billionaire CEO David MacNeil, recently began soliciting buyout interest from PE firms via sell-side adviser JPMorgan Securities, sources familiar with the matter told PE Hub.
Representatives for MacNeil Automotive, which does business as WeatherTech, did not immediately respond to requests for comment by Plastics News.
Two of PE Hub's anonymous sources said MacNeil Automotive could sell at a multiple in the range of 10-12 times its $220 million of earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA). The third source said the company generated EBITDA closer to $200 million.
MacNeil Automotive is a major captive thermoformer and injection molder that makes most of its products in the United States. The Bolingbrook, Ill.-based company highlights its domestic plastics manufacturing in TV and print ads, often showing Maac rotary and shuttle thermoforming machines and Husky injection molding presses. But when David MacNeil started the business in 1989, he imported rubber floor mats made in England.
In a 2011 speech to a plastics industry group, MacNeil highlighted his fanatical devotion to American manufacturing. He showed the audience views of the factory floor in Bolingbrook.
"This is the way factories should look in America, right here," MacNeil said. "Lit. Clean. Air conditioned. Efficient. You know, if you invest in modern machinery, and you have confidence in the American worker, you can compete anywhere, any time in this world. With anybody."
U.S. manufacturing could make the company an appealing acquisition target, one source told PE Hub, because of the company's large market share and strong operating margin.
MacNeil Automotive Products Ltd. ranks No. 29 in Plastics News' survey of North American thermoformers with estimated sales of $100 million. PN estimates the company's total sales at $700 million.
