Sumitomo Heavy Industries acquires spray-form metal AM start-up in $33 million deal
May 10, 2017
Sumitomo Heavy Industries, Tokyo, Japan, recently announced its acquisition of Persimmon Technologies, Wakefield, Massachusetts, USA for $33 million. With the acquisition, Sumitomo will gain access to Persimmon’s hybrid-field technology, which uses spray-form metal Additive Manufacturing to produce winding cores for electric motors.
Persimmon’s spray-forming AM process produces each winding core from consecutive layers of soft magnetic composite material, sprayed as metallic droplets to create three-dimensional magnetic flux paths. It says its motors provide considerably higher power output (40% higher power density) and improved energy efficiency (up to 15% lower losses) compared to the state of the art.
“Our technology offers a new approach to making electric motors using an Additive Manufacturing process that significantly increases power density, eliminates multiple production steps and reduces costs,” explained to Dr Martin Hosek, Vice President and CTO of Persimmon. “Being part of SHI will allow us to step up the pace of technical development and further expand our portfolio of world-class products.”
Michael Pippins, President and CEO of Persimmon Technologies, added, “We are thrilled to become part of a $7 billion organisation with such a strong global presence and balance sheet. SHI [Sumitomo] is positioned to invest heavily in our Hybrid-Field electric motor technology. The merger will also enable us to take advantage of the massive market potential for hybrid-field electric motors in rapidly growing electric vehicle and industrial robotics markets.”
“SHI has been impressed by Persimmon’s team and its research and development activities in vacuum robotics and hybrid-field motor technology,” stated Shunsuke Betsukawa, President and CEO of Sumitomo. “The acquisition will expand our product line and accelerate the growth of our company in semiconductor-related fields and new markets.”
