Germany’s Leifeld Metal Spinning AG and Japan’s Nihon Spindle Manufacturing Co Ltd — two companies involved in the development and production of spinning machines and flow-forming machines in non-cutting chip-less metal forming — have joined forces.
On 29 May, Nihon Spindle Manufacturing acquired all the shares of Leifeld Metal Spinning, which had been owned by the investor Georg Kofler. He had been in talks about a possible acquisition of his company by Nihon Spindle (a subsidiary of the Japanese conglomerate Sumitomo Heavy Industries Group) since the beginning of last year.
Nihon Spindle Manufacturing was founded in 1918 and has its roots in the manufacturing of spindles for the textile industry. Today, the company is known as one of the world’s leading manufacturers of spinning and flow-forming machines. Its main business areas are industrial machinery, HVAC (heating, ventilation and air conditioning) and environmental technology.
Leifeld Metal Spinning develops and manufactures machine tools for non-cutting chip-less metal forming, and it is active world-wide in the automotive, aerospace and energy industries, as well as in various consumer and industrial goods sectors.
Hiroshi Arito, president of Nihon Spindle Manufacturing, said: “With Leifeld, we gain an experienced partner with valuable know-how and an exemplary corporate culture. Leifeld’s long tradition provides a stable foundation and a high level of innovative strength, which we now want to reinforce and expand together.”
Leifeld Metal Spinning, which has its production site and headquarters in Ahlen, has more than 200 employees at locations in Germany, the USA, China and Russia. Over its history of more than 125 years, the company has manufactured over 6,125 machines and delivered them to 60 countries.
Nihon Spindle Manufacturing generated a turnover of more than 150 million euros in 2018 and has about 650 employees world-wide.