Sandvik exits additive manufacturing, divests AM unit to Swedish investment firm Mimir

Sandvik, the Swedish engineering conglomerate, has signed an agreement to divest its Additive Manufacturing business unit to Swedish investment firm Mimir, exiting the AM sector after more than two decades of involvement. The transaction, expected to close in Q3 2026 subject to regulatory approvals, includes Sandvik's metal powders for AM, metal injection moulding, hot isostatic pressing, and controlled expansion alloys operations. The business, housed under Sandvik's Machining segment, will incur an impairment loss of approximately SEK 230 million (about $22 million), primarily related to property, plant and equipment, reported as an item affecting comparability in Q2 2026. Sandvik had already been pulling back from AM activities, exiting its 30% stake in Italian service bureau BEAMIT in 2024 and narrowing its strategy to focus solely on metal powders before this full divestiture.

This exit is significant because Sandvik was one of the few large, diversified industrial materials companies that maintained a dedicated AM powder business through the post-SPAC downturn, positioning itself as a premium supplier for aerospace and medical-grade LPBF materials. The divestiture fits a recurring pattern in the AM industry where large incumbent materials suppliers struggle to justify the investment intensity and margin profile of the AM powder segment against their core businesses. Sandvik's departure leaves a gap in the Western metal powder supply chain, particularly for high-performance tool steels and nickel-based superalloys, at a time when Chinese powder producers are aggressively scaling and exporting. The move also underscores the ongoing consolidation in the materials tier of the AM value chain, where scale economics and qualification costs increasingly favor either very large diversified producers or focused specialty players.

For the AM industry, this is a sobering signal that even well-capitalized industrial parents can conclude the AM powder business does not meet their portfolio return thresholds. The new owner, Mimir, will need to maintain Sandvik's material qualification credentials and customer relationships without the parent company's R&D budget and brand leverage. Buyers of Sandvik powders should expect continuity through the transition but watch for any changes in material availability or technical support as the business operates under new ownership with a more constrained resource base.