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Citadel Owner Seeking Sale

Written by Angelo F. Coffey    Wednesday, 21 December 2011

After buying up six plastics assets in four years, Citadel Plastic Holdings Inc. might be on the selling block. An Oct. 13 report from Reuters news service said Citadel’s owner — private equity firm Wind Point Partners of Chicago — is seeking a buyer for Radnor, Pa.-based Citadel. The report quoted an undisclosed source who was said to have seen marketing materials provided by the bank handling the process. Citadel most recently bought compounder QTR Inc. of Evansville, Ind. Total annual sales for Citadel are estimated at almost $300 million. Since its 2007 launch, Citadel has been led by industry veteran Mike Fitzpatrick. Neither Fitzpatrick nor Wind Point principal Paul Peterson could be reached for comment. Wind Point’s timing might be right in taking Citadel to market, according to Michael Benson, a managing director with investment firm Stout Risius Ross Inc. of Chicago. “Generally speaking, there are more buyers than sellers right now. And some private equity firms are taking advantage of this timing. There’s also been a bit of a plateau in value for some types of businesses,” he said by phone. Benson added that Wind Point’s four-year involvement with Citadel “seems to be on the short end of things,” but he also said the firm “may already have integrated the businesses and got the most out of [Citadel] that it could.” Citadel’s other holdings include compounders Matrixx Group Inc. of Evansville and Aclo Polymers Inc. of Cambridge, Ontario; and thermoset materials maker Bulk Molding Compounds Inc. of West Chicago, Ill. The firm also bought a compounding and injection molding plant in Brazil from Meridian Automotive Systems Inc. In 2009, Citadel bought compounder Fiberfil Engineered Plastics Inc. of Stoney Creek, Ontario, out of receivership. The Fiberfil plant was then closed. In 2008, Citadel sold a pair of plants operated by Matrixx in Italy.

Last Updated ( Wednesday, 21 December 2011 )