Rohrer CEO discusses thermoforming acquisition

Rohrer Corp. hopes to build a better package with its recent acquisition of Buckell Plastic Co.

"Rohrer is searching for well-run companies to expand its capacity and capabilities," he said. "Buckell fits this profile and was ready to make a deal," Rohrer Corp. president and CEO Scot Adkins told PlasticsToday.

Based in Wadsworth, OH, Rohrer is a manufacturer of high visibility packaging including printed carded packaging, thermoforming, and folding cartons. The company recently purchased Buckell for an undisclosed sum.

The company's products and services are a good complement to Rohrer's current book of business, Adkins said.

"The acquisition is the just one step in our plan to grow and to provide industry leading service and quality to the high visibility packaging industry," he said.

In December 2009, Rohrer sold its controlling interest to ShoreView Industries, a Minneapolis-based private equity firm. The owners, who founded and built Rohrer for more than 35 years, sought to diversify their personal net worth and partner with a financial sponsor to capitalize on growth opportunities, according to ShoreView. Rohrer founders continue to be involved with the company in a management capacity.

The Buckell acquisition expands Rohrer's thermoforming capabilities in the visual packaging market, along with increasing its presence in the high-visibility consumer packaging industry. Established in 1964, Buckell specializes in custom thermoformed packaging for the medical, health and beauty, food, retail, and electronics industries.

The Buckell acquisition included the company's 50,000-sq-ft Lewistown, PA-based plant, which is now renamed Rohrer Corp. of Pennsylvania. Rohrer already has three printing/thermoforming facilities located near the Cleveland, Atlanta, and Chicago areas.

With the addition of the Buckell facility, Adkins said Rohrer can better serve its East Coast customers by providing one-day shipping service out of the Lewistown, PA facility.