Bill Ridenour

Bill Ridenour is the founder and president of Polymer TransAction Advisors, Inc. (PTA), a boutique advisory firm providing global merger-and-acquisition and strategic-consulting services to privately owned and publicly held polymer and chemical suppliers. He has described roughly three decades (30+ years) of direct experience in the polymer industry, and PTA has stated it has completed well over 100 industry transactions globally and assisted hundreds of firms with internal and external growth.

Before founding PTA (which he has led since 1999), Ridenour was a vice president and partner in the Cleveland-based TransAction Group from 1990 to 1999, where he established and grew a practice serving the polymer and specialty-chemical industry and personally managed 30-plus transactions. Earlier, from 1981 to 1990, he served as a corporate development executive at Ferro Corporation, a global producer of specialty chemicals and materials, where he managed global business transactions.

His market expertise spans automotive, packaging, and the manufacture of all types of materials, components, sub-systems and systems involving polymers. PTA has operated with an international footprint, including advisors and offices spanning the U.S. (Ohio/North Carolina, Houston), Europe (Frankfurt), Latin America (São Paulo), and — as of 2009 — India (a Mumbai office). He is frequently cited in trade press (Plastics News, Rubber News, Plastics Today) as a commentator on plastics- and rubber-industry M&A trends.

• Focuses on the polymer, plastics, rubber, and specialty-chemical value chain — established manufacturers, distributors, and service companies rather than early-stage startups.
• Works on the advisory side of transactions (sell-side/buy-side M&A, strategic alliances, and growth consulting) rather than deploying angel/seed capital.
• Deep sub-sector expertise in automotive, packaging, and engineered materials/components.
• Emphasis on cross-border deals — connecting North American, European, Latin American, and Asian buyers and sellers.
• Publicly frames the polymer sector as consistently "ripe for mergers and acquisitions," and regularly forecasts deal-activity levels for the coming year in industry press.