Clarion Completes Acquisition of $50 Million Molder
1 March 2000
Clarion Technologies Inc. Completes Acquisition of $50 Million Molder
HOLLAND, Mich.--March 1, 2000--Clarion Technologies Inc. Wednesday announced that it has completed the transaction to acquire the assets of Drake Products Corp. (Drake), a full-service, ISO 9001 and QS9000 certified, plastic injection molding firm based in Greenville, Mich.The acquisition was made with a combination of bank and seller financing and Clarion common stock.
Drake, founded in 1970 by Steven Drake Sr., posted sales in excess of $50 million for 1999. Approximately two-thirds of the company's sales are to the home appliance industry, with the remaining sales distributed between automotive, furniture and other consumer products. In addition to injection molding, Drake provides secondary decorating and assembly operations.
Clarion intends to keep the Drake operations intact. Drake employs 325 persons and operates from two facilities in Greenville and one facility in Anderson, S.C. The combined locations have 330,000 square feet and include 65 molding machines ranging from 90 to 3,000 tons of clamping force. Jeffrey Anonick and Michael Miller, Drake's principal officers and shareholders, have joined Clarion's executive management team.
Miller, Drake's executive vice president, stated: "The two companies are an exceptional fit. Clarion Technologies will allow our company and people the size and agility necessary to meet the highest level of customer expectations."
"This is definitely a win-win situation," said Bill Beckman, president of Clarion.
"Drake is a successful and innovative molder and we are pleased to be adding their capabilities to Clarion's operations. This merger is particularly important to the execution of our growth strategy because it adds significant sales volume and further diversifies our business. Drake and its customers will benefit immediately by having access to the engineering, product development and tooling expertise that Clarion already has in place," he added.
The Drake transaction is a continuation of Clarion's strategic plan to grow through acquisition. Since April of 1999, Clarion has completed four other acquisitions including:
-- MITO Product Development -- a company with $8 million in
annual sales providing complete product development services
to the plastics industry, including industrial design,
engineering, model-building, prototyping and tooling.
-- Wamar Products and Wamar Tool & Machine -- a manufacturer of
injection molded products and a full-service mold making and
repair firm serving the office furniture, automotive and
consumer products industries with combined annual sales of
approximately $20 million.
-- Double "J" Molding -- a tier-two automotive supplier of plastic
injection molded parts with annual sales of $21 million.
As a full-service supplier to the automotive, heavy truck, furniture and consumer goods industries, Clarion provides capabilities ranging from product ideation, engineering and tooling, to manufacturing and assembly of a final product.
Clarion now operates from six manufacturing facilities and a technical design center with a total of approximately 700,000 square feet located in Michigan, Ohio and South Carolina. Clarion's manufacturing operations include 150 injection molding machines ranging in size from 50 to 5,000 tons of clamping force.
For further information contact James Hostetler, vice president -- corporate development & investor relations of Clarion at 847/490-6063, or obtain information, including an electronic version of the company's brochure, on the Web at www.clariontechnologies.com.
Except for historical information, this news release contains certain forward-looking statements that involve unknown risks and uncertainties which may cause actual results to differ materially from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the statements made. Such risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, uncertainties regarding the marketing of its products, the availability of funds for ongoing operations and further development or acquisition activities and other risks detailed from time to time in the company's Securities and Exchange Commission filings.