PolyOne to acquire GLS

Resin supplier PolyOne Corporation, of Avon Lake, Ohio, has signed an agreement to acquire specialty thermoplastic compounds producer GLS Corporation.

Terms of the pending transaction have not been announced.

GLS, headquartered in McHenry, Ill., employs 200 workers and reported sales of approximately US$130 million in 2006. In that same year, the company became the first specialty TPE compounder to begin production in China.

GLS is a very important strategic acquisition and the kind of company that we have been carefully seeking to become a significant part of PolyOne’s business portfolio,” said Stephen D. Newlin, chairman, president and CEO. This acquisition will accelerate the specialization strategy for our global Engineered Materials business and will decisively shift our portfolio as we continue our aggressive evolution into a specialty solutions provider of engineering thermoplastics.

The acquisition of GLS also will provide PolyOne access to new customers in specialized, high-growth markets such as health care and electronics, Newlin continued. PolyOne has targeted these markets for expansion and believes there are additional cross-selling opportunities, he said.