Frequently Asked Questions

No, we are consultants that work exclusively in the plastics industry on supply chain, technical and merger and acquisition related projects and we do not sell or distribute any plastic resins or raw materials. We do, however, work with our clients to identify new plastics suppliers and new plastics materials for their plastics processing operations.

Mathelin Bay uses several pricing models, or a combination of pricing models, depending upon the type of service we are providing and our clients’ requirements and budgets. Pricing options include gain-sharing or a percentage of cost savings without any upfront fees, fees quoted in advance for services rendered including turnkey or fixed cost project fees, as well as licensing fees for product development projects. Tailored searches for plastics processing company acquisition candidates can be on a retainer plus percentage finder’s fee or even a structured payout over time following an acquisition.

Following signing an agreement for potential services and a Mutual Non-Disclosure Agreement to protect the privacy of your information Mathelin Bay will request historical data on the plastic resins (and performance additives and color concentrates in some cases) that your company buys. We will then review that information to determine the competitiveness of your company’s purchases and whether there are any potential opportunities to lower the price of the plastic resins that your company buys, whether there are opportunities for substituting lower cost virgin or recycled plastic resins or if there are other areas where there could be potential improvements to the total cost of your plastics supply chain. At that point we will discuss whether the areas identified are a good fit for your company’s culture and operations and how best to implement savings programs and objectively benchmark progress toward reducing your company’s total plastics costs moving forward.

Operational due diligence for a plastics processor is the process of reviewing the plastics supply chain of a plastics company for a buyer or a seller with the goal of identifying EBITDA improvement opportunities and uncovering potential risks to EBITDA in future years, typically in the areas of plastics raw materials, plastics processing technology and equipment, but also sometimes in other areas such as people, customers and physical plant.  Operational due diligence for potential buyers is often performed in a short-time frame, while operational due diligence for sellers may occur either close to the time of an anticipated sale or several years in advance of a sale in order to increase sustainable EBITDA and the potential sales price.

Many private equity companies, particularly middle market firms that have purchased a plastics processing operation for the first time will defer to the expertise of existing management at the plastics processing firm that they have purchased. As in many areas, the expertise of managers at plastic processing firms is normally distributed along a continuum from very good to average to less skilled than average. With Mathelin Bay’s assistance your firm can quickly identify the strengths and weaknesses of a company’s plastics supply chain and present opportunities for quickly improving sustainable EBITDA related to plastics raw materials—which is typically a plastics processors largest cost of goods sold.

Many companies have expressed an interest in establishing plastics processing operations in the United States for the first time in order to serve the large domestic market or to serve as a base for exporting to other areas of the world, particularly for plastic products made from resins such as polyethylene that are benefitting from low cost American shale gas. But, the U.S. is very large and made up of many individual states and cities that have advantages and disadvantages for plastics processors. Some geographic areas may have low cost raw materials, but taxes may be high or skilled labor may be expensive and in short supply. Mathelin Bay can help foreign companies to review and sort the areas that are important to the decision to invest in a plastics processing plant in the U.S., including raw materials costs, competitors, channels to customers, real estate, labor, utilities, taxes, incentives for direct foreign investment and more. And most importantly, we will help your company to understand where the U.S. market may be quite different from your company’s current markets before making the decision to move ahead with an investment.

All Mathelin Bay clients are offered the opportunity to have their confidential information protected by a Mutual Non-Disclosure Agreement.