Swedish plastics compounder Hexpol (Malmö; www.hexpol.com) has paid USD 49m (EUR 42m) to acquire Kirkhill Rubber (Downey, California / USA; www.kirkhillrubber.com), a custom rubber compounder serving the aerospace, automotive, medical and other demanding industries. The business, which has annual sales of around USD 46m, was bought from founder and president Edward Reker, his family and co-owners.

Kirkhill has three plants – a recently acquired facility in Long Beach, California, one in Downey, California and another in Athens, Georgia. Going forwards, Kirkhill will retain the Long Beach site as its sole manufacturing plant with production at Downey moving to Long Beach and output at Athens relocating to other Hexpol sites in the US. Hexpol said the business will be consolidated from September 2018, adding that a smaller, performance-based consideration will be paid later if certain criteria are met.