GenCorp Completes Purchase of Goodyear's Calhoun, Georgia Plant
2 March 1998
GenCorp Completes Purchase of Goodyear's Calhoun, Georgia Plant
FAIRLAWN, Ohio, March 2 -- In another strategic move to grow
selected businesses, GenCorp announced today that it has completed
the purchase of The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company's Chemical Products latex
manufacturing facility in Calhoun, Georgia. The plant will be integrated into
GenCorp's Specialty Polymers business unit, which is a leading producer of
high quality engineered latex polymers for the paper, carpet and various
specialty industries.
"The purchase of the Calhoun plant is an excellent example of GenCorp's
growth strategy for Specialty Polymers. The acquisition complements Specialty
Polymers' successful efforts to grow through internal capacity expansion and
new technology developments that have resulted in a doubling of production
capacity and a 50% increase in new products over the past three years," said
John Yasinsky, Chairman and CEO. "As one of GenCorp's key growth platforms,
Specialty Polymers continues to focus on leveraging unique strengths and core
competencies in order to enter new but related markets and capture an
increasing share of the 12 billion pound worldwide latex polymer market.
Calhoun further enhances this strategy by strengthening our market position
and competitiveness and providing an important geographic base for further
expansion and diversification," Yasinsky said.
Calhoun will add over $50 million in sales from the production of latex
products similar to those produced by GenCorp's Specialty Polymers unit, and
provide a strategic southeastern platform for customers. It will expand
Specialty Polymers' emulsion polymer production capacity by nearly 30% and add
continuous emulsion processing to the business unit's existing batch process
technology.
The Calhoun plant is located 70 miles northwest of Atlanta and
manufactures latex primarily used for the carpet industry as well as for tire
cord adhesive applications. The plant was built in 1977 and has about
80 employees.
"Calhoun is a perfect strategic fit with Specialty Polymers and an
attractive value-creating investment because of the product, technology,
market and customer synergies we share," said Marv Zima, who heads GenCorp
Specialty Polymers as President. "In addition, the Calhoun site provides
almost 100 acres of available land for future expansion. We are excited about
the opportunity to combine forces with Calhoun associates and work
collectively as a team to grow our business," he said. Transition and
integration of the business into Specialty Polymers will begin immediately.
GenCorp Specialty Polymers operates the world's largest specialty latex
facility in Mogadore, Ohio and in 1993 opened a second state-of-the-art latex
plant in Green Bay, Wisconsin. This GenCorp business unit holds a strong
number two position in styrene butadiene polymers that are used primarily as
binders for high quality coatings for magazines and packaging and as binders
for carpet backing. It continues to expand product line offerings for new
applications that include non-woven fabric and protective garment binders,
automotive, marine and industrial in-mold coatings and adhesives, and a
variety of specialty saturants and binders.
GenCorp is a market-driven, technology based manufacturer with leading
positions in numerous polymer product markets as well as the aerospace and
defense and automotive industries.
SOURCE GenCorp