NEWS BRIEFS (October 01, 2008)

Cincinnati Extrusion and the Battenfeld Extrusion group are being united under a single leadership. Both companies are part of the European private-equity investor Triton’s portfolio. Wolfgang Studener, managing director of Battenfeld Extrusionstechnik, will take over the management of both groups of companies, which, in addition to the two parent companies in Bad Oeynhausen and Vienna, include American Maplan in the U. S., B+C Extrusion Systems in China, Extrusion Kempen in Germany, and the Cincinnati Extrusion subsidiaries in Japan and the U. S. A new Toronto-based company is manufacturing reinforced thermoplastic composites for a variety of industries. Terry Ball, company president, and Fraser Wray, CFO, head Innovative Composites Inc. Both men come from Magna International: Ball was president of Decoma Exterior Trim, and Wray was president and CEO of Decoma International Inc. The Decoma units are part of Magna. According to an Aug. 15 news release, Innovative Composites is in the process of acquiring custom injection molder Lakeshore Diversified Products Inc. (LDP), of Spring Lake, Mich., as part of an effort to diversify into new markets. LDP, which specializes in insert and encapsulation molding, primarily serves the automotive market.