Kohlberg & Company Closes Pexco Deal and Announces New Merged Entity, Spectrum Plastics Group

Kohlberg & Company L.L.C., a private equity firm specializing in middle-market investing, has closed the acquisition of Pexco and successfully merged the business with PPC Industries Inc., a Kohlberg portfolio business which also comprises Kelpac Medical. 
 
The new entity will be named Spectrum Plastics Group, underscoring the range of plastic and material solutions it is now able to bring to market, most notably for the medical device sector. Spectrum Plastics Group will feature multiple thermoplastic and silicone tubing extrusion, injection molding, film, packaging, assembly and value-add manufacturing technologies across 20 plants, five countries, and three continents, comprising more than 2,000 employees. 
 
“We are thrilled to have closed this transaction and to announce the launch of our new, combined company, Spectrum Plastics Group. There are few businesses as unique and well-resourced as Spectrum Plastics Group in the market today, and we aim to support our customers fully with such a broad range of manufacturing technologies and products,” said Neil Shillingford, CEO of Spectrum Plastics Group.
 
The formation of Spectrum Plastics Group creates a more comprehensive suite of medical solutions under one provider by combining the related capabilities previously under Pexco Medical and Kelpac Medical. The medical business will consist of 15 manufacturing facilities across the globe and feature both thermoplastic and silicone technologies. Both Pexco and PPC Industries, however, will retain their industrial brands and marks for industrial profile extrusion and industrial packaging businesses respectively.
 
The Spectrum Plastics Group name belonged to the Pexco portfolio of brands as a result of its acquisition of the Minneapolis, Minn.-based precision injection molder in 2013. It is relaunching with a new mark and logo. 
 
Commenting on this new name and brand for the entire operating unit, Mauricio Arellano, president of the medical division, said it fits the proposition perfectly. “We now bring a full spectrum and in most cases unmatched set of specialty plastics capabilities to the medical device sector, so the opportunity to relaunch our brand, one with a long history in medical devices and strong brand equity with our customers, was compelling,” he said. “It speaks precisely to our position within the medical device market and our ability to support our customers’ noble mission of restoring health for millions of patients worldwide.”
 
Roger Prevot, operating partner at Kohlberg and chairman of Spectrum Plastics Group, remarked, “Since Kohlberg’s acquisition of PPC in 2014, our goal has been to build a broadly diversified medical componentry leader. The combination of Pexco with PPC represents the ideal next step in our achievement of this vision.”     
 
The brand will formally launch next month. 
 
Owned by Kohlberg & Company and based in Alpharetta, Ga., with multiple plants across the United States, Mexico, Costa Rica, Ireland, and Malaysia, Spectrum Plastics Group is a North American designer and manufacturer of custom and specialty plastics products focusing on niche, high value-added end markets, including medical, food, and industrial applications. The group offers a range of custom design, engineering and fabrication services, as well as meets the requirements of ISO 9001, ISO 13485, ITAR, FDA, operating multiple Class 7 & Class 8 clean rooms.  
 
Kohlberg & Company L.L.C. is a private equity firm headquartered in New York, N.Y. Since its inception in 1987, Kohlberg has organized eight private equity funds, through which it has raised $7.5 billion of committed equity capital. Over its 30-year history, Kohlberg has completed 70 platform investments and more than 150 add-on acquisitions, with an aggregate transaction value in excess of $10 billion.