Thermoplastics supplier Polyplastics merges with affiliate Topas

A U.S.-based material supplier is merging two of its divisions in a bid to expand its portfolio for North and South America.

Engineering thermoplastics supplier Polyplastics Co. Ltd. is merging its Topas Advanced Polymers Inc. business with its Polyplastics USA Inc.

The merger will add Topas-brand cyclic olefin copolymer (COC) resins to Polyplastics USA’s existing portfolio of acetal, polybutylene terephthalate (PBT), and polyphenylene sulfide (PPS) engineering polymers. The combined business will be headquartered at Polyplastics USA’s current office in Farmington Hills, Mich. Topas had been based in Florence, Ky.

Polyplastics has held an ownership stake in Topas Advanced Polymers GmbH  for over a decade, and the merger is described as a key milestone in Polyplastics’s efforts to build a strong market presence in the Americas. “We plan to leverage and further enhance Topas’ global leadership position in COC as Polyplastics moves forward to expand its market reach in the Americas,” Lindsey Deal, president of Polyplastics USA, and Timothy Kneale, president of Topas, said in a joint statement.

On completion of the merger – which is effective April 1 – Topas’ U.S. business will no longer exist as a legal entity. The merger will have no effect on Topas GmbH’s European arm, which will continue to manufacture COC in Oberhausen, Germany, and handle sales for Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.