Sekisui Chemical has signed a stock purchase agreement with Liberty Hall Capital Partners, LP, and others to acquire all outstanding stock in AIM Aerospace Corporation and indirectly acquire its six subsidiaries. The AIM Aerospace group manufactures and sales carbon fibre reinforced plastic (CFRP) for aircraft, drones and other composite mould materials.

The Sekisui Chemical group positions this purchase as an important stepping stone for its long-term goal of the ‘New Phase of Growth’, said the company in a press release. It hopes to leverage the technology of the AIM Aerospace Group in composite materials such as CFRP and its presence in the aircraft industry to expand its business mainly in the mobility materials domain. The acquisition will cost $510 million and it is expected that the transaction will be consummated in the second half of 2019.

In its High Performance Plastics Company, Sekisui Chemical has positioned automobiles and transportation as a strategic field and is engaging in the manufacture and sale of interlayer films for automotive laminated glass, foaming materials, and other automotive products. In its Urban Infrastructure and Environmental Products Company, it positions advanced materials as a strategic field and is engaging in the manufacture and sale of plastic sheets for moulds to be used for aircraft cabin interiors. Sekisui’s companywide aim is to expand its business in the domain of mobility materials by means of the fusion of management resources such as technology in both fields as part of its midterm management plan ‘SHIFT 2019?Fusion’.

In addition, the company has established long-term goals of sales of 2 trillion yen for fiscal 2030 and operating income of 200 billion yen. In order to achieve this, it is aiming for the ‘New Phase of Growth’.

Many types of synergy are anticipated because of the purchase. For example, the aircraft industry, into which it is difficult for new players to enter, the strong relationships of the AIM Aerospace Group with companies including aircraft manufacturers will be leveraged to expand uses and sales of Sekisui Chemical group products that have been developed for automobiles, infrastructure and building such as fire-resistant and incombustible materials into the aircraft market.

Conversely, global sales networks held by the Sekisui Chemical group in the automobile, infrastructure and building markets will be utilised to produce synergy in marketing and sales by interaction between the products and sales routes of the two groups, including the expansion of sales for AIM Aerospace group products.

It is anticipated that fusing technology related to composite materials such as thermosetting and thermoplastic CFRP held by the AIM Aerospace Group with resin compounding technology, fabrication technology and technology related to thermoplastic CFRP held by the Sekisui Chemical group could promote the research and development of products that could contribute to improving safety and environmental performance to respond to increasing needs for Connected, Autonomous, Shared, Electric (CASE) in the automobile industry, and toward the expansion of next-generation mobility such as flying cars and drones. (PC)