Advent Tool & Mould

Germany’s Rochling Group is expanding its base in North America with the acquisition of moulder and mould maker Advent Tool & Mould.

Advent will become part of Rochling Engineering Plastics of Germany, which sells finished and semi-finished products in sheet, rod and profiles as well as machined plastic parts. The addition of injection moulder Advent will increase Rochling’s offerings for the medical industry, the company said in a 1 June news release.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

“This acquisition allows us to significantly expand the position of Rochling as a provider of sophisticated plastic products for the life science industry,” said COO Ludger Bartels. “In addition, we expect the acquisition to translate into synergies with other Rochling subsidiaries, which cater to the life science industry.”

Rochling Engineering Plastics already has US sites, in Texas, California, Ohio and Wisconsin. A sister company, Rochling Automotive Plastics, has also been expanding in the US.

Advent has 250 employees and $35m (€28m) in annual sales. Founder Ken Desrosiers will remain with the company as general manager while Lewis Carter, president of Rochling Engineering Plastics North America will become president of Advent Tool & Mould.

Advent invested $2.2m (€1.8m) in a second clean room for moulding in 2011 and has both insert and two-shot moulding. It began as a mould maker, and its capabilities in tooling will be “a particular competitive advantage” for Rochling, giving it an ability to find new solutions for production, Rochling said in the release.

Tooling expertise — along with the need for increased production capacity in a resurging production market — has been a driver in a new interest in acquisitions of mould makers, said Jeff Mengel, a partner with consulting group Plante & Moran, with offices in Chicago.

“We’re seeing more processors who want to make [tooling] a strategic component and a strategic asset and doing the [research and development] side of things,” he said.