Fiber-Line acquired by PolyOne

PolyOne Corp. (Avon Lake, OH, US), global provider of specialized polymer materials, services and solutions, recently announced the acquisition of Fiber-Line (Hatfield, PA, US), a global leader in customized engineered fibers and composite materials for $120 million.

Founded in 1987, Fiber-Line has established a portfolio of materials serving the fiber optic cable, oil & gas, industrial and consumer industries. With five manufacturing locations in North America, Europe and Asia, Fiber-Line provides material science and polymer formulation expertise to engineer specified performance characteristics for fiber. These include strength, abrasion and chemical resistance and specialty colorants.

“Fiber-Line is an innovative and unique addition to our portfolio of fiber and composite solutions with tremendous upside for growth,” says Robert M. Patterson, chairman, president and CEO, PolyOne Corporation. “They provide an immediate leadership position in serving the build out of fiber optic cable and future 5G networks.”

Fiber-Line’s leading technologies complement PolyOne’s existing specialty composite solutions and wire and cable applications.

“Joining the PolyOne team represents another important and exciting milestone for Fiber-Line employees and our valued customers,” says Dale Outhous, CEO, Fiber-Line. “Through PolyOne’s future investments in Fiber-Line’s technical capabilities, operations and commercial reach, we will be able to serve our customers better than ever before.”

Patterson adds, “We’re very excited to welcome Dale and his accomplished Fiber-Line management team to PolyOne. Through increased collaboration with customers, we’ll capture both near-term growth prospects as well as benefit from the expansion of 5G networks. Longer term, we expect future growth to be driven by significant technology synergies between fiber and composites, utilizing specialty colorants and coatings, which PolyOne is well positioned to develop.”