Creative Foam Corporation, a portfolio company of Industrial Opportunity Partners, has acquired the assets of Aetna Felt. The buy of Aetna is the first add-on acquisition for Creative Foam since being acquired by IOP in October 2017.
Aetna is a converter, fabricator, and distributor of felt and other non-woven materials used in podiatry, foot-care, and other applications. The company’s podiatry products include insoles and inserts, gel cushions, padding, sleeves, straps and socks, and rubber or foam pads and sheets.
Aetna’s customers include medical distributors, hospitals, schools, surgery and health centers, government facilities, and private label sellers. In addition, Aetna provides non-woven material products – chipboard, cork, foam, neoprene, sponge rubber and vinyl – to the industrial, consumer, and crafts markets. Aetna Felt was founded in 1929 and has a 93,000 square foot facility and headquarters in Allentown, Pennsylvania.
Creative Foam manufacturers die-cut, formed foam, nonwoven, and other multi-material components that are used in the automotive, medical, and wind energy markets. The company’s products are used in noise, vibration, sealing, airflow, and insulation applications; as foam patient positioners and table pads in diagnostic imaging applications; and as cores used in turbine blade construction in the wind energy market.
Creative Foam, led by President David Swallow, was founded in 1969 and is headquartered north of Detroit in Fenton, Michigan and has one million square feet of production space in 11 facilities in Michigan, Tennessee, Colorado, Indiana, Ohio, and Mexico.
“The acquisition of Aetna is an excellent fit for Creative Foam and our growing healthcare division,” said Mr. Swallow. “Aetna provides access to a variety of complementary end-markets and customers that we believe will benefit from Creative Foam’s innovative culture and technical resources.”
“It is very exciting to have Aetna join Creative Foam,” said Phil Fioravante, the chairman of Creative Foam and an operating principal at IOP. “We believe Aetna has a strong position in its served markets, particularly in podiatry and footcare, and we look forward to offering our combined capabilities to customers to better serve them.”
IOP focuses on acquiring middle-market manufacturing and value-added distribution businesses, typically with revenues between $30 million and $450 million. The firm targets businesses with strong product, customer, and market positions and provides both management and operational resources to support sales growth and operational improvements. IOP is headquartered in the Chicago suburb of Evanston.
© 2020 Private Equity Professional | November 19, 2020
