ProMach, a Covington, Ky.-based packaging machinery solutions provider, said it expanded its portfolio with the acquisition of Stock America, Garner, N.C., a provider of integrated turnkey process sterilization solutions. The addition of Stock significantly expands ProMach’s growing lineup of solutions for the retort room.

“We’re pleased to welcome the outstanding Stock team to ProMach,” said Mark Anderson, ProMach’s president and CEO. “The addition of Stock and their large installed base of innovative sterilization equipment bolsters our customer base, extends our keystone retort product lineup, and strengthens our capability to provide the most comprehensive sterilization solutions in the food processing industry.”

According to ProMach, Stock has been a technology leader in processing and in-container sterilization solutions for more than 40 years and supplies a full range of equipment, systems and services to the North American food processing industry. This includes batch retort sterilizers, continuous retort sterilizers, research and development/pilot retort sterilizers, container handling systems, control monitoring and data acquisition software, and retort parts and accessories.

Stock can handle a broad range of container types, including cans, glass jars, plastic bottles, pouches and trays. Additionally, ProMach said Stock offers process validation and thermal process authority services, as well as in-house laboratory resources and testing services for customers needing to assess product quality with various types of sterilization technologies.

Stock’s leadership, sales, technical, engineering and customer service staff are joining the ProMach team, the company said. Current Stock president, Timothy Schurr, will join ProMach as vice president and general manager of Stock. He will be joined by Julio Delgado, vice president of technical services and Rick Eleew, vice president of business development.

“ProMach has an excellent reputation for investing in their product brands and combining their unique strengths to better serve customers,” said Schurr. “Together we have an outstanding opportunity to offer the best retort technologies, to better serve our mutual customers and to introduce new customers to some of the packaging industry’s most innovative solutions across the entire packaging line, including the ability to provide complete integrated lines that start with the retort room.”