Specialist engineering company Molins has completed the sale of its Sandiacre Rose Forgrove (SRF) packaging machinery business, which has sites in Nottingham, England and Pennsylvania, to Barry-Wehmiller subsidiaries Hayssen Europe and Hayssen Inc respectively.
Hayssen claims the deal will form one of the world’s largest flexible packaging equipment suppliers, with revenues of over $80m. Molins will initially retain the freehold of SRF’s Beeston, Nottingham site, leasing it to Hayssen Europe, but it is planned that the site will eventually be sold. The combined Hayssen and Sandiacre Rose Forgrove businesses will trade worldwide as HayssenSandiacre. The UK Hayssen sales and service operation will merge with Sandiacre Rose Forgrove to form HayssenSandiacreEurope, while in America the Sandiacre sales, service and parts operation will be absorbed into the existing Hayssen organisation.
Sandiacre says it is expected the new business will retain and market both the Sandiacre and Hayssen bagmaker brands in the US, Europe and throughout the world, and continue to design, develop and build Sandiacre bagmakers in Nottingham. Hayssen reportedly also sees “good potential value” in the Rose Forgrove brand name and intends developing the Rose Forgrove market and products.
Explaining the sale, Molins says that, “despite some operational improvements, current margins at Sandiacre Rose Forgrove are not adequate to support its future development”. A statement adds: “Sandiacre Rose Forgrove operates in a very competitive segment of the packaging machinery market and most of its products are sold to customers themselves facing considerable competitive pressures, particularly in the food industry in the UK and Europe. Barry-Wehmiller is a major supplier of packaging machinery and Hayssen is one of the world’s largest suppliers of vertical form, fill and seal bagging machines. It already has a UK sales and service operation; the merged business will be better able to exploit economies of scale.”
Sandiacre Forgrove comprises the businesses of Sandiacre Packaging Machinery, acquired by Molins in 1994, and Rose Forgrove, acquired from receivership in 2001. The company manufactures vertical and horizontal form, fill, seal bagging and wrapping machines, selling mainly into the food and other FMCG sectors,
On the sale’s completion Molins’ Packaging Machinery Division will comprise ITCM, Langen, Langenpac and Cerulean Packing.
Molins adds: “Unlike Sandiacre Rose Forgrove, the focus of these businesses is on high value-added engineering solutions, building on their skills and capability in delivering complex projects, supported by a range of core products in which the Group continues to invest. There is greater potential for growth in these areas as customers continue to outsource their engineering requirements and the scope for differentiation in these market areas is also greater.”