Rockland, Mass.-based Polymer Corp. has acquired Middletown, Conn.-based injection molder Prototype & Plastic Mold Co. Inc., positioning the combined companies for "significant growth."

"It just made sense to do," Bob Underwood, president and CEO of Polymer Corp., told Plastics News. "They're in a very similar business. They're close geographically. … We have a very similar focus; we target the same markets."

The two companies, which will now be merged under one name, even have some customers in common, Underwood said.

Polymer does not expect any workforce changes as a result of the deal.

"PPM's team is highly experienced, and the chemistry between the Polymer and PPM teams is phenomenal," Jim Ryan, Polymer's chief operating officer, said in a July 1 news release. "The entire PPM team is joining Polymer and will continue to be based in PPM's current Middletown facility."

"There's a highly experienced workforce [at PPM]. … People are very hard to find these days," Underwood said. "When you find a really good workforce that's doing good things, that can fit with our [workforce], you don't want to mess with it."

PPM has "engineers that have been around a long time and know everything from mold design to how to work with customers over time," he added. "Good engineers, project managers … are very difficult to find … always have been. And they have some good ones that are very well-respected by their customers."

Other than being under the Polymer Corp. name, PPM's customers will see "almost no change," Underwood said.

"We do some secondary services that [PPM doesn't] do in-house. … We have a much broader sales force than PPM had and this will allow us to better service both their existing customers," Underwood said.

"I think it really positions us overall for us to grow even more … to capitalize on the scale of the business and grow it further," he said.

Underwood declined to comment on terms of the deal.

Polymer Corp. is a portfolio company of Chicago-based private equity firm Prospect Partners LLC. Polymer Corp. manufactures plastic parts and assemblies for customers in medical, defense, marine, outdoor sport, and industrial technology markets.

With the acquisition of PPM, Polymer has 45 injection molding presses for small- to large-part production.

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