By Steve Toloken
STAFF REPORTER / ASIA BUREAU CHIEF
Published: November 4, 2014 4:46 pm ET
Updated: November 4, 2014 5:49 pm ET

Image By: PPC Industries Inc.
PPC Industries Inc. has been acquired by private equity firm Kohlberg & Co.

Medical plastics processor PPC Industries Inc. said Nov. 4 it’s been acquired by private equity firm Kohlberg & Co., in a move both companies said is designed to accelerate PPC’s growth and provide a platform for acquisitions.

PPC, based in Pleasant Prairie, Wis., makes tubing, film and bags in the medical, food and industrial markets, and employs more than 500 people at seven factories in the United States, Costa Rica, Ireland and Malaysia.

‘’This transaction will give PPC access to capital, and it positions the company to continue to thrive,’’ said Jonathan Waldron, CEO of PPC, in a statement.

Terms were not disclosed and officials with PPC and Kohlberg did not comment beyond the news release.

Kohlberg bought PPC from New York-based private equity firm AEA Investors, which according to AEA’s website, acquired PPC in 2006.

Kohlberg, which sold medical injection molder Phillips-Medisize Corp. last year for a reported $800 million, said its background in the medical and packaging industries will help PPC expand.

“We look forward to working closely with [PPC Industries] to support its continued growth and development, both organically and via acquisition,” Kohlberg Partner Seth Hollander said in a statement.

PPC recently completed an investment of its own. Its subsidiary Kelpac Medical said in June that it bought a “major capital position” in specialty medical tubing manufacturer Apollo Medical Extrusion of Sandy, Utah.

PPC said on its website it has 40 blown film lines of up to seven-layer capacity at its factories worldwide, including 32 at facilities in Wisconsin. It also has eight co-extrusion lines in Wisconsin.

The company bought San Clemente, Calif.-based Kelcourt Plastics in late 2010, creating its Kelpac Medical unit. Kelpac in early 2011 opened a medical tubing plant in Tullamore, Ireland.

PPC also has facilities in San Jose, Costa Rica, and Johor, Malaysia. It said its main plastic extrusion operations were in Wisconsin and Costa Rica.

It supplies tubing, films and bags to the medical device market, as well as specialty food manufacturers and markets for industrial film and bag, auto-insertion bag and protective systems.

“We are extremely impressed with PPC’s high quality product offering and deep customer partnership, supported by its robust new product development pipeline and state-of-the-art manufacturing capabilities,” Hollander said.