GE Reaches Agreement to Acquire 75% Stake in Concept Laser

After its offer being rejected by major SLM Solutions stakeholder Elliot Associates GE (NYSE: GE), the world’s leading digital industrial company, has reached an agreement to acquire a 75% stake in Concept Laser GmbH for $599 million (€549 million). The agreement allows for GE to take full ownership in a number of years and adds up to GE’s acquisition of Sweden based Arcam.

“We are committed to enhancing Concept Laser’s technologies and product offerings across a well-established customer base.” Privately-held Concept Laser has more than 200 employees and is headquartered in Lichtenfels, Germany, with significant operations in the United States (Grapevine, Texas), China, and a global network of more than 35 distributors and agents. Concept Laser is a pioneer in the field of metal additive manufacturing.

Concept Laser is a leading global supplier of additive manufacturing equipment

Concept Laser designs and manufacturers powder bed-based laser additive manufacturing machines. Its customer base is focused on the aerospace, medical and dental industries, with a meaningful presence in automotive and jewelry. Concept Laser’s machine range incorporates both the largest and smallest build envelopes currently available on the market and are capable of processing various powder materials including titanium, nickel-base, cobalt-chromium and precious metal alloys, as well as hot-work and high-grade steels and aluminum.

“Concept Laser founder Frank Herzog and his team are true pioneers in metal laser melting technology,” said David Joyce, GE Vice Chairman and President & CEO of GE Aviation. “We are committed to enhancing Concept Laser’s technologies and product offerings across a well-established customer base.”

Agreement represents a key step in GE’s commitment to the additive revolution

Herzog commented, “GE shares our vision regarding the potential for additive manufacturing to lead the digital transformation of industrial production. We are delighted that together we will be able to accelerate development of the technology to the benefit of our customers. We have some exciting new product offerings due to come to market, including our innovative AM Factory of Tomorrow modular concepts, and with GE’s support we will be at the center of Industrie 4.0.”

Herzog will continue as CEO of Concept Laser and will also assume a senior leadership position within GE. In order to support the growth potential of the business, GE has committed to invest significantly into Lichtenfels, which will continue to be Concept Laser’s headquarters and will become a new German center for GE. GE will retain Concept Laser’s management and employees. In addition, the close partnership that exists between Concept Laser and Hofmann Tool Manufacturing will continue.

Concept Laser sets the stage for GE to sell additive manufacturing equipment across several industries. Mr. and Mrs. Herzog founded Concept Laser in 2000 and commercialized the first metal additive manufacturing machine in 2001. Over the past 16 years, Concept Laser has industrialized the technology with its patented LaserCUSING® process and remains at the forefront of the industry.

Concept Laser has a comprehensive product offering ranging from small machines up to the machine with the world’s largest build envelope. The company’s machines with multi-laser technology are among the fastest and highest-quality laser melting machines in the world. Concept Laser has won multiple awards for innovation excellence in recent years and continues to invest heavily in customer centric technologies, including real time monitoring of the process through its QMmeltpool offering. At the forthcoming Formnext trade fair, Concept Laser will announce the sales launch of the new machine concept with fully modular machine technology along with the series production offering of the AM Factory of Tomorrow.

“Concept Laser machines are being used by leading manufacturers of medical, aerospace and dental components in series production as well as for prototyping and design. We are hitting an inflection point in demand as customers increasingly understand the possibilities that additive manufacturing presents and the technology advances to be able to turn these possibilities into reality. With GE’s broader investment into additive manufacturing, we believe that this process will only accelerate,” said Herzog.

Additive manufacturing (also called 3D printing) involves taking digital designs from computer aided design (CAD) software, and laying horizontal cross-sections to manufacture the part. Additive components are typically lighter and more durable than traditional forged parts because they require less welding and machining. Because additive parts are essentially “grown” from the ground up, they generate far less scrap material. Freed of traditional manufacturing restrictions, additive manufacturing dramatically expands the design possibilities for engineers.

GE to enhance Concept Laser’s product offerings

GE is a leading end user and innovator in the additive manufacturing space. GE has invested approximately $1.5 billion in manufacturing and additive technologies at GE’s Global Research Center (GRC), developed additive applications across six GE businesses and are pioneering services applications across the company.

GE Aviation introduced into airline service this year its first additive jet engine component – complex fuel nozzle interiors – with the LEAP jet engine. The LEAP engine is the new, best-selling engine from CFM International, a 50/50 joint company of GE and Safran Aircraft Engines of France. More than 11,000 LEAP engines are on order with 20 fuel nozzles in every engine, thus setting the stage for sustainably high and long-term additive production at GE Aviation’s Auburn, Alabama, manufacturing plant. Production will ramp up to more than 40,000 fuel nozzles using additive by 2020.

GE Aviation is also using additive manufacturing to produce components in its most advanced military engines. In the general aviation world, GE is developing the Advanced Turboprop Engine (ATP) for a new Cessna aircraft with a significant portion of the entire engine produced using additive manufacturing.

The deal is subject to customary regulatory reviews.

Concept Laser is being advised by PJT Partners, Lacore, Allen & Overy and Ernst & Young.

About GE

GE (NYSE: GE) is the world’s Digital Industrial Company, transforming industry with software-defined machines and solutions that are connected, responsive and predictive. GE is organized around a global exchange of knowledge, the “GE Store,” through which each business shares and accesses the same technology, markets, structure and intellect. Each invention further fuels innovation and application across our industrial sectors. With people, services, technology and scale, GE delivers better outcomes for customers by speaking the language of industry. www.ge.com

GE Aviation, an operating unit of GE, is a world-leading provider of jet engines, components and integrated systems for commercial and military aircraft. GE Aviation has a global service network to support these offerings. For more information, visit us at www.geaviation.com.

About Concept Laser

Concept Laser GmbH, which was founded in 2000 by Frank and Kerstin Herzog, is one of the world’s leading providers of technology to support the 3D printing of metal components. The patented LaserCUSING® process – powder-bed-based laser melting of metals – frees designers and engineers from the constraints of more traditional manufacturing methods, allowing tool-free manufacturing of highly complex parts. The company’s customers come from many different sectors, including the aerospace, medical, dental, automotive and jewelry industries.