Sandvik Exits Additive Manufacturing, Sells Osprey Powder Business to Mimir

Sandvik has completed its exit from the additive manufacturing market, selling its Osprey metal powder business and remaining AM assets to Swedish investment firm Mimir through a carve-out transaction. The deal follows Sandvik’s 2024 sale of its majority stake in Italian service bureau BEAMIT, which had been the centerpiece of its vertical integration strategy since 2019. Mimir will take over Osprey’s portfolio of over 400 distinct alloys and 2,000 alloy variants used in LPBF, cold spray, and metal injection molding. Mimir Managing Partner Joakim Notö stated the acquisition targets deep materials science and long-term defensible growth in advanced manufacturing markets.

This exit fits the pattern of large materials conglomerates failing to sustain the patience required for AM’s adoption clocks. Sandvik’s original strategy — mining ore, producing powder, qualifying materials through BEAMIT, and finishing parts for aerospace and defense — was editorially sound but commercially premature for a company expecting faster revenue acceleration. The aerospace qualification grind, which can span 5–13 years for certified production, clashed with Sandvik’s quarterly reporting rhythm. The breakup with BEAMIT over valuation differences and executive turnover dispersed the institutional knowledge needed to execute vertical integration. For the broader metal AM value chain, this signals that powder supply remains a commodity-adjacent business unless paired with long-term service contracts or defense program lock-in. Mimir, a carve-out specialist, may succeed where Sandvik could not by giving Osprey dedicated focus and a longer time horizon.

For the AM industry, this is a sobering but predictable outcome. Sandvik’s departure removes a credible vertically integrated competitor, but the Osprey powder business itself remains intact and may thrive under Mimir’s patient capital model. The real question is whether Mimir can build the application-layer partnerships — with service bureaus, defense primes, or medical OEMs — that Sandvik failed to sustain. Buyers of specialty metal powders should expect continuity from Osprey, but the loss of Sandvik’s mining-to-part pipeline means fewer end-to-end qualification pathways for new alloys.