Nilit pays low price for US firm from JPMorgan

Nylon fiber and plastics manufacturer Nilit Ltd. has acquired the US operations of Nylstar Inc. from JPMorgan Chase Inc. (NYSE: JPM). Nylstar produces nylon fibers at plants in Virginia and China. Although Nilit declined to disclose the size of the deal, industry sources believe that it was more than $20 million, well below Nylstar's $53 million in sales in 2008. The Chinese operations are not part of the deal.

Nylstar's Virginia plant has 200 employees. Nylstar will be renamed Nilit US, which will be run by Nystar president Basil Walker.

This is Nilit's fourth acquisition in the past three years. The company already has plants in Israel, Italy, Germany, and China. Sales turnover was $440 million in 2008, and it has 1,400 employees.

Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on May 12, 2009