Q&A: Trelleborg on acquisitions of EirMed and Minnesota Rubber & Plastics

Following Trelleborg’s recent acquisitions of EirMed and Minnesota Rubber & Plastics, Med-Tech Innovation asked the company to provide some insight into its market activity this year. 

Trelleborg have been active in the M&A space of late, can you bring us up to speed on the latest movements? 

In the healthcare and medical industry in the US, Trelleborg acquired EirMed LLC in Menomonie, Wisconsin, in April 2022 and we finalised the acquisition of Minnesota Rubber & Plastics on October 27, 2022. 

One of your recent acquisitions has been that of EirMed – what do they offer to your portfolio? 

Part of Trelleborg’s strategy is to expand its material and capability offerings. EirMed brings extensive experience in medical device assembly and expands Trelleborg’s existing capabilities and capacity in thermoplastics. EirMed enables us to enter markets where we previously have not had a large presence, for example the dental market.

Perhaps most exciting is that EirMed brings experience with bioresorable materials, which can be used in implants. With these, once treatment is complete, the materials are absorbed by the body. These materials have many benefits, including shortening a patient’s recovery time and hospital stay. They also have the potential to be less invasive.

This material expertise is potentially a very interesting addition to Trelleborg’s active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) offering, which involves the combination of APIs with silicone.

Bringing medical device assembly experience and expanding in thermoplastics was a big reason for Trelleborg’s move for EirMed – could we see further movement into this area from Trelleborg with regards to its strategy, or are there other areas you are looking at? 

Trelleborg’s ambition is to be the partner of choice for medical device manufacturers. We believe this requires having an extensive offering of materials and capabilities so that we can deliver assembled components and finished devices to our customers. Trelleborg is always looking for ways to expand its offering and provide increased value to customers.

An additional area of strategic growth is Trelleborg’s support of the biopharmaceutical industry. Trelleborg recently announced a substantial investment of several million US dollars to expand our manufacturing facility and BioPharma Center of Excellence in Northborough, Massachusetts. The expansion will enable us to increase our manufacturing capacities for extrusion and moulding and offer enhanced flexible manufacturing solutions. As a full-service provider to the biopharmaceutical industry, our value-added offering will include assembly, kitting, contract manufacturing, packaging, validation, supply chain management, and more.

What was the thinking behind the purchase of Minnesota Rubber & Plastics?

Minnesota Rubber & Plastics complements and strengthens Trelleborg's current position and product offering in a number of fast-growing industries, including healthcare.

Minnesota Rubber & Plastics is well-known for being an innovative and customer-oriented company making it a natural fit with Trelleborg’s culture. They have an Innovation Center where they not only make production samples but also set up processes, programming production equipment before it goes into a manufacturing facility.

The acquisition helps make Trelleborg the natural development partner for both local and global customers, especially in the medical device market.

How is this a “step change” for Trelleborg?

This acquisition of Minnesota Rubber & Plastics is a coming together of two successful businesses. Jointly developed growth plans will lead to further expansion.

Minnesota Rubber & Plastics has expertise in materials and engineering products in close partnership with customers. This complements what we do. Additionally, its manufacturing locations are strategically important for us and complement our footprint. They serve markets we are active in, and this combination gives us a strong position.

CEO Peter Nilsson said Minnesota Rubber & Plastics is a good fit… in what way?  

Trelleborg is already a world leader in manufacturing precision seals from a variety of materials. Minnesota Rubber & Plastics also has experience solving customer challenges using elastomers and thermoplastics. So, the acquisition makes sense for our business.

One DNB analyst suggested surprise at this acquisition according to Bloomberg – what do you say to that kind of reaction?

As previously stated, Trelleborg is already a world leader in manufacturing precision seals from a variety of materials. Minnesota Rubber & Plastics also has experience solving customer challenges using elastomers and thermoplastics. So, the acquisition is a good fit for our business. In the healthcare and medical industry, it is Trelleborg’s ambition to be the partner of choice for medical device manufacturers, providing all materials, components and processes needed to deliver finished devices to market. Acquiring Minnesota Rubber & Plastics will help us achieve this goal.