Headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA, Conwed Plastics produces engineered resin-based netting solutions used in applications such as highway infrastructure development, oil & gas exploration, filtration, construction, hygiene, medical, packaging, automotive and agriculture. The company has annual sales of approximately US$140 million.
The acquisition of Conwed adds complementary operations and products to SWM’s Advanced Materials and Structures (AMS) growth platform.
“The Conwed acquisition represents our fifth diversification transaction since 2013 and puts our AMS segment’s annualized sales well over US$400 million, demonstrating our patient and disciplined approach to building scale in this growth platform,” said Frederic Villoutreix, chairman and CEO of SWM. “This strategic and synergistic transaction greatly enhances our long-term outlook as we continue diversifying the portfolio outside the tobacco market and reposition SWM for sustainable profit growth.”
Leucadia CEO Rich Handler and president Brian Friedman said: “Conwed has been a solid Leucadia business for over 30 years; however, SWM approached us as a compelling buyer and we agreed. We look forward to watching Conwed’s outstanding CEO, Chris Hatzenbuhler, help propel Conwed to even greater heights under its new partnership with SWM, and we want to take this opportunity to express our most sincere thanks to Chris and the entire Conwed team for their hard work and excellent performance.”
“Our success under Leucadia’s ownership as a standalone business in their portfolio for more than 30 years demonstrates our commitment to our employees and customers to be a leader in technology, service and manufacturing excellence. Now we enter a new chapter in our history, and combined with SWM, we see a future rich with opportunity,” added Hatzenbuhler.
