New Owners for American Kuhne

The Graham Group, York, Pa., last month announced it had bought controlling interest in American Kuhne (AK), the Ashaway, R.I.-based manufacturer of extruders, screws, and integrated extrusion systems. The controlling interest was acquired from The Kuhne Group of Sankt Augustin, Germany, which is owned by Peter Kuhne.

The current management team of AK will retain a minority interest in the company. No German assets of the Kuhne Group are included in the transaction. “American Kuhne has always operated independently of the Kuhne Group anyway, so the change in control will have no disruptive effect on our business,” stated Bill Kramer, president of AK, which was founded in 1997.

Graham Engineering is a leading supplier of extrusion blow molding systems for packaging. Remarks president Wolfgang Liebertz, “The addition of American Kuhne to the Graham Group’s machinery portfolio is very exciting to us. The ability to deliver a quality melt stream is the first step in any successful plastic processing technology. The experience and expertise of the team at American Kuhne is first-class, evidence of which is American Kuhne’s industry-leading position in the medical extrusion market, which is about as technically demanding as a process can get.”

Donald C. Graham, founder and owner of the Graham Group, told Plastics Technology that this acquisition furthers the company’s interest in broadening its machinery and process offerings. He said American Kuhne’s expertise in certain specialty areas of extrusion, like medical tubing, make it particularly attractive.