Reifenhauser buys blown film machinery maker Plamex

In a bid to expand its offerings to the medical packaging industry, German extrusion machinery company Reifenhauser Group has acquired blown film machinery supplier Plamex Maschinenbau GmbH, which is also based in Germany.

The terms of the deal have not been disclosed.

Headquartered in the town of Kelberg, Plamex specializes in blown film lines for water-cooled and biaxially oriented films for the medical and food packaging industry. In addition, Plamex develops coextrusion tools, such as multilayer blown film dies for special applications.

The company, which has approximately 50 employees, will operate under the new name Reifenhauser Blown Film Plamex GmbH & Co. KG.

“The extremely efficient water cooling keeps the polymer in amorphous state and produces a particularly glossy and transparent film with remarkable puncture resistance and very good barrier properties,” Reifenhauser Group CEO Bernd Reifenhauser said in a statement. “In our discussions with customers we can now provide even more differentiated advice and deliver the optimum solution for the particular application.”

“Water-cooled blown film extrusion lines for medical applications, such as infusion bags, and biaxially oriented multi-layer films, have not yet been in the scope of the Reifenhauser Group,” Plamex managing director Manfred Kurscheid said in the statement. “Now we can offer water-quench, double and multi-bubble technologies.” Kurscheid and Maximilian Herchenbach will be the managing directors of the new Reifenhauser Blown Film Plamex GmbH & Co. KG.

Reifenhauser’s North American operation is headquartered in Maize, Kansas.