JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #103 - March 2016 - 13

acquisition

"We will become active
in the M&A market again"

interview
Bernard rzepka,
president and Chief exeCutive OffiCer
frank rOederer,
seniOr viCe-president, General ManaGer,
enGineered COMpOsites
a. sChulMan, inC.

JEC Composites Magazine: Can you clarify
the Group's scope since the acquisition of
Citadel Plastics?

Bernard Rzepka: Since 2010, we
have been executing a deliberately acquisitive growth strategy to aggressively grow
in key geographic regions and expand our
global specialty product portfolio and capabilities. The Citadel acquisition builds on
this successful strategy, and provides our
customers with an extended, value-added
product offering.
We are currently operating six businesses
in the "plastics materials" space - Custom
Performance Colors, Engineered Composites, Masterbatch Solutions, Engineered
Plastics, Specialty Powders, and we also
run a distribution business.
With its industry-leading, value-added
specialty engineered composites business,
Citadel provides a strong entry point to our
"Expanded Vision" by adding another strategic growth platform to our organization
JCM: Do you have any specific projects
regarding Quantum, a company that works
in manufacturing?

Frank Roederer: Quantum has been
integrated into our Engineered Composites
platform and we see tremendous opportuni-

With the acquisition of Citadel Plastics, last June, the A. Schulman,
Inc. group moved up in the world of composites. During a visit to
their site in Akron, Ohio, we questioned them about their strategy
and projects.

ties for both our Engineered Composites
and Engineered Plastics businesses in highperformance composites in terms of meeting the increasing need for lower weight,
higher strength and higher-temperature
materials. These unique capabilities put us
in a very strong position to find solutions
to many of these challenges and offer our
customers industry-leading, value-added
specialty engineered composites. A global
reach and proximity to our customers means
that we can translate many of our solutions
rapidly across the globe.
We have a strong and diverse innovation
pipeline. The team is working on many
new leading-edge technologies, and these
are very close to commercialization. We
expect to see some of them to be launched
in 2016.
JCM: Specifically, what are your plans in
composites?

Frank Roederer: We will continue
to integrate the Engineered Composites business into A. Schulman's group
structure and work hand in hand with
our colleagues in Engineered Plastics to
develop the best solutions for our common
customers, so that they can benefit from
our complete service and product offering.
The combination of unique resin chemistry
and compounding technology enables our
Composites business to deliver materials to

customers with the industry's highest level
of reinforcements.
JCM: Are you planning to expand your
activities, and/or are you considering further
acquisitions?

Bernard Rzepka: We have stated
many times that acquisitions play an
important part in our growth strategy. As a
matter of fact, acquisitions (along with organic growth) have played a vital role in our
growth strategy, with 11 acquisitions over
the past six years. Once we have integrated
Citadel, we will again become active in the
M&A market. n
More information:
www.aschulman.com

About A. Schulman, Inc.

A. Schulman, Inc. is a leading international supplier of high-performance plastic
compounds and resins headquartered in
Akron, Ohio. Since 1928, the company has
been providing innovative solutions to meet
its customers' demanding requirements. Its
customers span a wide range of markets
such as packaging, mobility, building
& construction, electronics & electrical,
agriculture, personal care & hygiene, sports,
leisure & home, custom services and others.
The company employs approximately 5,000
people and has 58 manufacturing facilities
globally. A. Schulman reported net sales of
approximately $2.4 billion for the fiscal year
ended August 31, 2015.

No103 March 2016 /

jec composites magazine 13

http://www.aschulman.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #103 - March 2016