NORTH KINGSTOWN – Toray Plastics (America) Inc. has signed a letter of intent to sell its Old Baptist Road plant to Lowell-based Arlin Mfg. Co.
Under the planned sale, Arlin will continue to provide operations and service to customers of the Old Baptist Road facility, according to a Toray statement.
Toray intends to sell the Old Baptist Road property “to focus on our core business,” according to Christopher Roy, executive vice president of Toray Plastics (America). The company recently expanded this core business, Roy said.
The expansion included an investment in an 8.7 meter polypropylene film line, which the company described in 2019 as the start of “the next phase of Toray’s multi-year strategic plan.”
The company’s headquarters is located in Quonset Business Park. It manufactures industrial films for packaging, optical and electronic applications in Rhode Island.
Roy declined to say how many employees work at the Old Baptist Road location, or the facility’s sale price.
According to Roy, “All employees will remain Toray employees and transfer to our operations at 50 Belver Ave. in North Kingstown.”
Toray employs around 700 people in Rhode Island, PBN reported in its 2021 Book of Lists.
The business transfer is scheduled for Dec. 31.
The 560 Old Baptist Road property, which includes a 35,000-square-foot building and 4 acres of land, was assessed by the town of North Kingstown at $1.6 million in 2021, according to property records.
Steven Mitchell, vice president of Arlin Mfg. Co., said the facility will “bring us additional capacity and additional capabilities to meet the market demands for special plastic films.”
Arlin also operates Trico Specialty Films in North Kingstown, which the company acquired in 2016 in a merger with Trico.
The intended purchase of the Old Baptist Road facility “will complement our Trico Specialty Films division and expand our capabilities,” Mitchell said in a statement.
Jacquelyn Voghel is a PBN staff writer. You may reach her at Voghel@PBN.com.
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