09-02-2022: Nikon Corporation announced its intention to acquire SLM Solutions for €622 million

The deal was completed in January 2023

On September 2, 2022, Nikon Corporation, the Japanese manufacturer of photographic and optical equipment, initiated the acquisition of the German company SLM Solutions for €622 million. Since SLM Solutions was a publicly traded company, the acquisition process was quite extended.

Throughout the following months of 2022, Nikon gradually negotiated with various shareholders of the company, and on January 20, 2023, publicly announced the successful acquisition. However, the final, formal integration of SLM Solutions into Nikon’s corporate structure did not occur until September 4, 2023 (which means the anniversary is in two days).

The history of SLM Solutions has been marked by both highs and lows. In the early 2010s, it was one of the key manufacturers of metal 3D printers globally. This caught the attention of GE, which in 2016 decided to acquire it along with Swedish company Arcam. Unfortunately, Elliott Advisors, a shareholder of SLM owning 20% of its shares, torpedoed the entire transaction at the last moment by repeatedly raising the price of its shares.

As a result, GE made an unexpected move and acquired another German company—Concept Laser. This was a significant blow to SLM, which already “considered itself” part of GE. In the following years, its revenues began to plummet, resulting in a near-complete overhaul of the company’s management. At one point, around late 2019 and early 2020, the company’s future was hanging by a thread.

However, SLM Solutions began to recover after the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, in the second half of 2021. The company focused on large-format 3D printing systems from the NXG series, where the NXG XII 600 model was equipped with 12 lasers. Recently, the company celebrated the sale of its 50th NXG system.

These sales successes caught the attention of Nikon, which decided to acquire the rapidly growing company. But, aware of GE’s history, Nikon first secured binding commitments from all key shareholders of SLM, including the aforementioned Elliott Advisors UK Limited, ENA Investment Capital, and the company’s founder, Hans J. Ihde. According to the press release, the key shareholders “welcomed the proposed transaction.”

Currently, Nikon SLM Solutions is one of the key companies in the global metal 3D printer market, and its large-format systems form the foundation for many companies in the automotive, aerospace, and military sectors.

Source: www.nikon.com