Molding Business Services, headquartered in Florence, Mass., acquired Gros Executive Recruiters of Franklin, Tenn. Both firms provide recruiting and executive search services to the plastics industry.

The transaction closed Jan. 2; terms were not disclosed.

Molding Business Services brings a deeper injection molding network to Gros, while Gros helps the acquiring firm penetrate the packaging and plastics machinery markets. Combined, the firms have recruiting staff located in Massachusetts, Illinois, Tennessee, Vermont and California.

The two firms will integrate over the upcoming year but the Gros brand will continue to be used. Former Gros Executive Recruiters owner Dennis Gros was appointed president of the combined recruiting business. Gros Executive Recruiters will become the sole recruiting brand of the combined entity and operate as a Molding Business Services company.

Founded in 1998, Molding Business Services is a professional services firm providing M&A advisory, recruiting and specialty consulting for injection molders, plastics processors and other engineered component manufacturers throughout North America, Europe and Asia. its recruiting division focuses almost exclusively on the injection molding segment of the plastics industry.

Gros Executive Recruiters, founded in 1989, targets the packaging, plastics processing and plastics machinery markets.