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Unova to Buy Cincinnati Milacron's Machine Tool Group
Unova Inc., an industrial technologies company headquartered in Beverly Hills, CA., will add approximately $500 million in revenue after buying Cincinnati Milacron's machine tool business for $178 million. As part of the agreement, Unova will purchase all assets of Milacron's machine tool operations, including plants and offices and the corporate headquarters in Cincinnati, OH, and plants and offices in Birmingham, England.

Milacron's machine tool operation, which employs 2,400 worldwide, had sales of $458 million in 1997 but expects to record an after-tax book loss of as much as $32 million, or $0.80 per share in the third quarter of 1998, as a result of the transaction.

Unova had 1997 sales of $1.5 billion, of which $800 million came from the IAS segment, which designs and installs manufacturing systems. Together the operations will rank as one of the largest manufacturing systems and machine tool companies in the world.

Unova plans to run the operation as a separate division with the current management under the name "Cincinnati Machine &endash; A Unova Company." Milacron plans to concentrate on its two larger businesses; plastics technology and industrial products for metalworking. To avoid confusion in the marketplace, the company will change its name.

"The rights to the long and widely respected name 'Cincinnati' when used on machine tools and metalworking equipment will become the property of Unova," said Daniel Meyer, president of Cincinnati Milacron. "We'll go forward as "Milacron Inc.," which retains the recognition and reputation we've established in plastics and industrial products. The new Milacron will be an exciting, fast-paced, global technology leader, with expected sales in 1999 in excess of $1.8 billion."

Milacron to Buy Uniloy Plastics
Milacron also recently agreed to purchase Johnson Controls' Uniloy assets for approximately $210 million. Johnson Controls is one of the world's leading producers of blow molding machines, with Uniloy employing 800 people worldwide in major manufacturing facilities in Manchester, MI, Milan and Florence, Italy and Berlin, Germany.

Johnson Controls, whose annual sales are near $190 million, is best known for its Uniloy brand which is used in the production of beverage containers and industrial components, as well as structural foam systems for the manufacture of household wares, furniture and appliances.

HPM, MAAC Machinery Announce Joint Venture
Two of the plastics industry's equipment and manufacturing giants, HPM and MAAC, have formed a one-of-a-kind alliance to design, manufacture and install complete turnkey cut sheet thermoforming production systems for new and existing clients. Exxon Chemical America (North American Polyethylene Division) will act as the organization's liaison for consulting and training.

According to MAAC and HPM, this association will improve OEM's and customer's bottom lines by taking single-source responsibility for all phases of a project.

"While both individuals and their companies will continue to focus on their current business, we can provide any company wanting to either grow their business or enter the cut sheet thermoforming business with a reliable single-source for the design and installation of a complete turnkey system," said both Paul Alongi, CEO of MAAC, and Ferdinand Pranckh, vice president and general manager of HPM. "If desired, we will provide everything, including tooling, sequencing, end-product material, specifications, material storage devices, feeding equipment, extrusion systems, thermoforming machines and trimming, grinding, finishing and assembly equipment as well as the required training."

The turnkey thermoforming services division at MAAC and HPM will take full responsibility for the entire system. For more information on the alliance, contact: HPM Extrusion Business (419) 946-0222, or MAAC Machinery Corp. (630) 285-1500.

Ellis & Evrard Expands Polymers Operations into USA
The United Kingdom-based Ellis & Evrard expanded its polymer activities following its acquisition of Performance Polymers, the fourth largest polymer distributor in the United States market. Sixty percent of Ellis & Evrard's $1.6 billion annual sales are from the U.S. market.

Ellis & Evrard International, a chemicals and polymer distributing company, is involved in bulk chemicals, industrial specialties and the food and personal care market.

"We see a real opportunity to develop across the United States, and Performance Polymers presents an excellent vehicle for our ambitions," said John Phillpotts, CEO of Ellis & Evrard. "They have a young, highly-motivated management team and a business philosophy that is highly compatible with our own. We feel we can help them continue and accelerate that growth."

John Brown Plastics For Sale
John Brown Plastics Machinery Inc., which includes five plastics machining divisions, is up for sale for undisclosed reasons. Kvaerner A.S.A., a European top engineering and shipbuilding business, is the holding company for John Brown Plastics Machinery Inc. Kvaerner says it intends to be debt-free by the turn of the century by selling off more than a billion dollars of non-core businesses.

Chief officer of John Brown Plastics, Charles Buckley, declined to provide any past sales information about his company, which employs 1,100.

The five divisions which make up John Brown Plastics Machining include:EPCO, a machinery remanufacturing company in Freemont, OH; Brown Machine, which makes thermoforming machines in Beaverton, MI; Beringer, which makes pelletizers and screen changers in Marblehead, MA; Negri Bossi SpA, an injection press builder in Milan, Italy; and Cumberland Engineering, a supplier of granulators in South Attelboro, MA.

Kvaerner acquired John Brown in 1996 as part of the purchase of England's Trafalgar House.

U.S. Conductive Polymer Demand to Grow 6 Percent
According to a recent study by the Freedonia Group, conductive polymers are expected to increase nearly 6 percent per year, to 2002. The polymers will provide a 385 million pound market for base resins, which will be fostered by compound, processing and additive improvements.

ABS, PVC, polyphenylene-based resins, polycarbonate and polyethylene resins account for 70 percent of all conductive polymers used. ABS will remain the leading resin based on the material's high impact strength. However, according to Freedonia, PVC will present the best opportunities because of its lower cost and design and processing ease. Polyphenelene-based resins will increasingly be used where high temperature and chemical resistance are required, such as under-the-hood motor vehicle components.

For further details about the study, contact Corinne Gangloff at the Freedonia Group, (440) 684-9600, fax (440) 646-0484, e-mail at pr@freedoniagroup.com. Full text of the study is also available online through commercial database companies and the www.freedoniagroup.com Web site.

Seminar Focuses on Laminating
Wood & Wood Products, a sister publication of Plastics Machining & Fabricating, will host back to back laminating seminars in conjunction with two North American trade associations. The seminar will be Nov. 11-12 at the Holiday Inn City Centre in Chicago, IL.

The program, "Laminating & Fabricating with Composite Panels" will feature tabletop exhibits. The seminar is sponsored by the Composite Panel Assn., Laminating Materials Assn. and W&WP.

Advance registration for "Laminating & Fabricating with Composite Panels" is $395. To register, contact the Wood Division Conference Office at (888) 903-9663; fax (630) 323-6989. Click here for a printable registration form.

IMA Forms U.S.-Based Firm
Germany-based machinery manufacturer IMA AG has formed a new U.S.-based company, IMA America Corp.

IMA is splitting with European Woodworking Machinery which had been an exclusive U.S. distributor for IMA product. Yens Nottmeyer has been named president of the new company and will handle the distribution of Torwegge and Nottmeyer panel processing equipment in the United States.

The new company is headquartered at 371 Kitty Hawk Drive, Morrisville, NC 27560. For more information, phone (919) 484-3130.

Plastics Machining & Fabricating
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