Investment company Hillenbrand buys Coperion Group

In a move designed to help it enter markets outside the plastics industry, Germany-based extrusion and materials handling equipment maker Coperion Group has been purchased by U.S. industrial investment company Hillenbrand, Inc.

The terms of the deal, which is expected to close by December 31, 2012, have not been released.

Hillenbrand bought Stuttgart-based Coperion from Deutsche Beteilungs AG, a leading German private equity company.

According to a news release, Coperion will be part of Hillenbrand’s Process Equipment Group (PEG). The PEG’s three operating companies are K-Tron, which focuses primarily on feeding and pneumatic conveying equipment; Rotex, a manufacturer of separation equipment, including gyratory and vibratory screeners and sifters; and TerraSource Global, which makes size reduction equipment, conveying systems and screening equipment, operating under the three brands Pennsylvania Crusher, Gundlach, and Jeffrey Rader.

“For Coperion this change of ownership opens up new opportunities in markets beyond the plastics industry. It will also strengthen our business in the areas where we have been engaged in strategic execution over the past years: to reduce our dependency on the polymer industry business, expand our global sales and service network and product offerings, develop turnkey process solutions with our own system and process competence, and to improve earnings resilience,” said Guenter Bachmann, CEO of Coperion.