Brownsville, Texas --October 25, 2003-- To slowly build up a business, then sell it to a multi-billion dollar company that's every entrepreneur's dream.

That's what happened recently to Bob Redfern Sr. and his company, Unique Molded Products which makes of seatbelt, windshield and other plastic parts.

For Redfern, the sale means the company he started can now grow even larger.

For Leggett & Platt a Fortune 500 company known for its coiled bedsprings the purchase gives it a stake in a growing plastics industry that serves automotive, electronic and small appliance manufacturers along the U.S.-Mexico border.

"We weren't looking to sell," said former owner Bob Redfern Sr. "They approached us." Terms of the deal were not available but, by both accounts, it's a win-win turning point.

Last year, there were nearly 29 plastics industry facilities doing business in Cameron and Hidalgo counties, according to the Society of the Plastics Industry. Combined, these companies employed about 1,000 workers and produced nearly $130 million in shipments.

Unique Molded Products started in Brownsville in 1991 in a 20,000-square-foot facility and with one plastic-injection-molding machine.

Since then, the company has expanded into 45,000 square-feet of space. It has 30 computerized machines making more than 400 plastic parts for a handful of customers, including the Brownsville-based windshield wiper company Trico Products Inc.

Most of the more than 100 workers have been with the company for about six years, Redfern said.

"We have a very low turnover," he said.

In 1996, Unique Molded Products received its ISO-9000 quality-control certification and, three years later, earned the QS-9000 seal.

In 1998, the company invested in a hands-free coordinate measuring machine, or CMM, to gauge the dimensions of molded products. Redfern said it was the first of its kind in the Rio Grande Valley.

His investments in new technology and quality assurance efforts made Unique Molded Products an attractive acquisition.

"It wasn't just the bottom line," Redfern said. "It was a combination of a bunch of different factors." Jim Ukena, president of Leggett & Platt's plastics division, said officials identified about 20 companies in their search for a plastics business to add to its portfolio. The strategic location of Unique Molded Products played an important role in its selection.

"It's an extension of our existing capabilities into a new geography," Ukena said. "Overall, we have a significant customer base down there.

Proximity to those customers was the big thing." Last year, Leggett & Platt reported net income of $233.1 million on sales of $4.2 billion. In addition to bedding parts, the company also makes finished furniture like headboards, shelving for store displays and components for outdoor grills and lighting fixtures. Its customers include furniture retailers and automakers.

Eventually, the company hopes to build on what Redfern began, although there are no immediate plans for expansion.

"There is not an immediate plan to move or expand," Ukena said. "There will be opportunity for growth."

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