Sekisui Chemical Industry announced on June 17 that it will acquire AIM Aerospace Corporation, which produces carbon fiber reinforced composite materials (CFRP) and other products. Completed in the fourth quarter.
Founded in 1988, AIM Aerospace, headquartered in Seattle, Washington, is part of the UK-based AIM Group PLC. It has more than 1,000 employees and has manufacturing excellence centers and research and technology centers in the United States. The company's main customers include Boeing, General Electric, Kawasaki Heavy Industries, and Spirit AeroSystems. AIM Aerospace was acquired by Liberty Hall Capital Partners (hereinafter referred to as Liberty Hall) in 2016. In 2017, Liberty Hall acquired Quatro Composites, a leading supplier of highly engineered advanced composite structures, components and assemblies to the aerospace industry and integrated the company into the AIM Aerospace Group.
AIM Aerospace Group is engaged in the manufacture and sale of carbon fiber reinforced composite materials (CFRP) used in the field of aircraft and drones. By buying all the shares of the AIM Aerospace Group it holds from Liberty Hall this time, Sekisui Chemical Industry will directly control AIM Aerospace and indirectly control its six subsidiaries.
Both parties hope that the acquisition will play a synergistic role in marketing and R & D. In terms of marketing, it is difficult for new players in the aviation field to enter. The close relationship between AIM Aerospace Group and companies including aircraft manufacturers will help Sekisui Chemical Industry's refractory and membrane materials from the automotive, infrastructure and building materials sectors. Entering the aviation field, AIM Aerospace Group can benefit from Sekisui Chemical Industry's mature global sales network and realize the expansion of the sales territory of both parties. In terms of research and development, the research on the fusion technology of thermoset and thermoplastic CFRP composites held by AIM Aerospace Group, combined with resin composite, industrial manufacturing, and thermoplastic CFRP related technologies held by Sekisui Chemical Industry, can improve the safety and environmental performance of products. And development to meet the automotive industry ’s growing demand for “CASE (ie, connected, autonomous, shared, electric)” and to promote the expansion of next-generation mobility methods such as flying cars and drones.
Sekisui Chemical Industry positions this acquisition as an important cornerstone of its long-term goal of "new growth stage" and hopes to use AIM Aerospace Group's technology in composite materials such as CFRP and its experience in the aviation field to expand its presence in aircraft, automotive In the field of mobile materials, it has officially entered the aviation sector with high industry barriers and achieved its business goal of 200 billion yen in sales in 2025 (actual performance of 181.9 billion yen in 18 years), of which the aviation sector has a target of 50 billion JPY.