Sarasota family office acquires large manufacturing plant

Nickolas Asset Management, a Sarasota-based family office owned by Nickolas Reinhart, has acquired a manufacturing plant. The 120,000-square-foot facility was owned by Material Difference Technologies, a plastic resin supplier and processor headquartered in Bradenton. Financial terms of the deal  for the facility — its specific location was not  immediately available — were not disclosed.

"This was a business where the owner was ready for retirement and needed a thoughtful exit," Reinhart says in a statement. “It was a well-run operation with good people and strong technical capability, but like many owner-operated manufacturing businesses, it had reached a transition point. Traditional private equity often isn't designed for situations like that.”

Jered Ingham, the second-generation owner who managed the business before the acquisition, will remain with the company as operating partner and COO of the division to ensure continuity as the business enters its next phase of growth, according to the statement.

"With our people, processes and capital, we can step in, modernize and professionalize the business quickly, invest in upgrading an aging asset base and continue operating it with the discipline required for the long term,” Reinhart says.

The manufacturing plant recycles and reprocesses post-consumer and post-industrial plastic scrap, converting the material into reusable resin pellets. In addition, the facility provides technical development, quality assurance and in-house analytical laboratory services.

“This facility strengthens our materials platform and supports how we build and operate manufacturing businesses meant to last,” Reinhart says in the statement.

Including its latest acquisition, Nickolas Asset Management has eight manufacturing facilities in its portfolio, totaling about 2.5 million square feet nationwide. It manages more than $500 million in assets.