TriStar Acquires CJ Bearings From Saint-Gobain

TriStar Plastics Corp. (USA, privately held) announced the acquisition of CJ Composite Bearings Division from Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics Corp. Founded in 1982, and headquartered in Shrewsbury, Massachusetts, TriStar was initially a small distributor of stock shapes. Today, TriStar manufactures and distributes a wide array of highly engineered and custom-engineered plastic components. The company produces Ultracomp brand bearing grade composites, TriSteel metal-backed bearing systems, Ultrasert mounted spherical bearings, plane bearings, custom components, and stock shapes. TriStar also produces sleeve, flange and thrust bearings in three types of Rulon. Saint-Gobain's CJ and FCJ Composite Bearing product line is a self-lubricating multi-layer structure bearing. The inner layer is a braided synthetic fiber/PTFE tubular liner, formed on a precision mandrel and saturated with epoxy resin. Additional layers, epoxy-coated low-angle and high-angle glass filaments, are applied and the assembly is cured, removed from the mandrel, and the bearings finished to size. Rulon CJ and FCJ bearings tolerate high compression loads, have an extremely wide operating temperature range, are dimensionally stable in fluids, and can also be produced in heavywall replacements for bronze or other metal bushings. TriStar's CEO, Richard Cedrone, said the acquisition will form the foundation of a new TriStar division, strengthen the company's offerings in the marketplace, better positioning it for strategic growth and future expansion.