Know-how for Automation
Japanese Nidec Buys 5 German Robot Companies
The Japanese company Nidec intends to acquire five German manufacturers of components for the construction of robots for 450 million dollars.
The first company the subsidiary Nidec-Shimpo is buying is MS Graessner, manufacturer of gears for the movement of robot arms. Nidec, based in Kyoto, plans to spend around 45 million dollars on the purchase. Nidec develops and manufactues precision motors and gears and systems based on them, including those for use in robots. Another company is scheduled to follow this month, the fifth in January and March, Nikkei Asian Review reports. They all manufacture components for robot construction and have purportedly agreed to the takeovers. Only the details still have to be worked out.
Nidec intends to strengthen its own production of components for robots and expand its position in the rapidly growing sector of automatic production. The Japanese also want to boost sales to customers in Europe such as ABB. With the purchase of the companies, Nidec also wants to gear upto meet the increasing demand from China under the sign of "Made in China 2025".
"We see Nidec's takeover as a positive response," Stadler told the F.A.Z. According to the F.A.Z., Stadler talked about corresponding discussions in the VDMA trade association. "It was important to me that we could create job security."
Acquisitions are nothing new for Nidec: since its founding in 1973, the company has acquired 60 companies, making it one of the most active buyers of companies in Japan. Most recently in June, Nidec acquired the American Genmark Automation, a manufacturer of robot systems for handling wafers in semiconductor production.
Nidec's competitors include Harmonic Drive Systems, also based in Japan, and the Chinese leader Precision Drive.
