Bits And Bites

•  Sun Chemical has formed a new Advanced Materials division featuring an expanded portfolio of technologies from both Sun Chemical and DIC, its parent company, to further enhance the company’s ability to serve its customers. The division will deliver solutions to broad markets, including automotive, inkjet, electronics, architectural and industrial coatings, aerospace, printed circuits, photovoltaics, printed electronics, plastic cards, water degassing, and plastics.

• DS Smith Plc, a leading provider of recycled corrugated packaging in Europe, has agreed to acquire the Milas packaging business of DasaMilas Ambalaj, a leading producer of specialist corrugated packaging and displays in Turkey. The business is focused on international FMCG customers, and is well-positioned for the large Istanbul market as well as European export. The business generates approximately $25-million in sales and has 240 employees at its production facility located near Istanbul. Deal is expected to clear by the end of DS Smith’s financial year 2015/16.

• Pantone, an X-Rite company and the global authority on color and provider of professional color standards for the design industries, has announced PANTONE 15-3919 Serenity and PANTONE 13-1520 Rose Quartz, as the PANTONE Color of the Year selection for 2016—a harmonious pairing of inviting shades that embody a mindset of tranquility and inner peace.

• Unilever has announced it has sold the Motions, Just for Me, Consort, and Groom & Clean brands, and also the TCB brand in Africa, to Strength of Nature for an undisclosed amount. TCB is currently sold in a limited number of African countries.

• I.D. Images LLC, a leading pressure sensitive label converter with headquarters in Brunswick, Ohio has acquired certain assets of Superior Business Associates, Inc. Greeneville, TN, a company founded in 1971 and specializing in the design and manufacture of forms, labels and tags. Like I.D. Images, Superior sells exclusively to independent distributors.

• Ford Motor Company adding 2,000 jobs in Louisville, Kentucky part of a $1.3 billion investment to produce the 2017 F-Series Super Duty models.

• Milacron Holdings Corp., a leading industrial technology company serving the plastics processing industry, announced it has completed the acquisition of CanGen Holdings, Inc. consisting of subsidiaries Canterbury Engineering Company and Genca. CanGen is a leading supplier of highly engineered aftermarket process control components for extrusion and injection molding applications and will now be part of the Milacron Extrusion product offering. Milacron’s extrusion business consists of OEM machines, barrel & screw rebuild and repair, gearbox repair and extrusion service and parts.

• Xaar plc, a world leader in industrial inkjet technology, has announced a new family of piezoelectric printheads for printer manufacturers (OEMs) developing machines for coding and marking applications. The first, available in late 2016, will all have a 17mm print swathe, an ideal width for high-resolution coding and marking applications such as printing barcodes, best-before dates and other product identification codes onto a range of packaging. The new family of printheads will be manufactured in Xaar’s award-winning state-of-the-art factory in Huntingdon, UK.

• UPM Raflatac has recently installed new state-of-the-art production equipment at its slitting and distribution terminal in Ontario, California. This investment will help the company increase capacity and offer new products and services to companies located on the West Coast. In addition, the company is enhancing its service platform by providing more same-day deliveries to companies within this region.

• Bemis Company, Inc. has acquired the rigid plastic packaging operations of Emplal Participações S.A., a privately-owned Brazilian manufacturer of plastic packaging for food and consumer applications, with a recorded annual net sales of ~ US$58 million in 2014.

• Wellspring Capital Management has announced that its portfolio company ProAmpac has entered into an agreement to acquire Coating Excellence International (CEI), a flexible packaging and technical products company based in Wrightstown, WI, that specializes in wide web extrusion coating and laminating of film, foil, paper, board and nonwovens and will enhance ProAmpac’s already robust extrusion lamination capabilities. ProAmpac, recently formed by Wellspring through the recent merger of Prolamina Corporation and Ampac Packaging LLC, is a leading global flexible packaging company operating primarily under the Prolamina, Ampac and Tulsack brands, offering flexible packaging for the food, pet care and medical markets, and secure packaging for the transport of cash and valuables, and retail shopping bags.

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