Höganäs ventures into additive manufacturing by acquiring fcubic

Höganäs AB has exercised an option to acquire a 100 percent interest in fcubic AB of Gothenburg Sweden. Fcubic develops technology for additive manufacturing, also known as 3D printing, and consists mainly of a number of patents. This new business area will be branded as Digital Metal®. The closing of the acquisition is expected to occur on November 1, 2012.

“In line with Höganäs’ vision, Digital Metal will further grow the market for metal powders as it can become a critical component and system manufacturing technology,” says Alrik Danielson, CEO Höganäs. “It will add tremendous value to customers demanding minimal development time and mass customization. With this deal Höganäs acquires the best available technology within the field.”

By combining additive manufacturing with metal powder, Höganäs opens up new opportunities as additive manufacturing offers unrivalled detail resolution, precision and tolerance control, as well as surface quality. Höganäs will now deploy its leading expertise and technology know-how within powder metallurgy to expand the use of additive manufacturing for components production. A large number of complex components – weighing up to 1kg – within fields such as industrial, dental, medical, and aerospace applications can be converted to metal powder. Another business area is design and jewelry, customized for individual consumers.

With this acquisition Höganäs takes the first step into shaping the future market for additive manufacturing. The market potential is currently estimated at 1 billion USD, mainly within the fields of consumer design, medical, dental, aerospace and industrial. However, this industry is still at a very early stage in its life cycle, consequently making it difficult to quantify the true potential.

Facts: What is additive manufacturing?

Additive manufacturing, also known as direct digital manufacturing or 3D printing, is a process of building components in layers directly from 3D CAD data. The technology eliminates the need for complex and costly tools, prototyping and programming. This speeds up development time, decreases cost, allows for high precision in design and tolerances and minimizes waste material. It is at present mainly used for rapid prototyping or for production of small parts.

There are several key additive manufacturing technologies for producing metal components on the market, i.e. Direct Metal Laser Sintering, Selective Laser Sintering and Electron Beam Melting. Digital Metal’s process offers further enhanced component precision, tolerances, surface finish and cost efficiency, whilst maintaining fast time to market.

Höganäs, 20 September 2012

This is information that Höganäs AB (publ) may be obligated to make public according to the Swedish Securities Market Act and/or the Financial Instruments Trading Act. The information was submitted for publication at 13.00 am on 20 September 2012.

FOR MORE INFORMATION Please contact: Sven Lindskog, Chief Financial Officer, +46 (0)42 33 80 00

Höganäs AB (publ) is the world’s leading producer of iron and metal powders. Building on its clear vision of the possibilities of powder to improve efficiency, the consumption of resources and environmental impact across a raft of segments, the company has developed in-depth application skills.

Thus Höganäs can help create the automotive components, white goods, water and exhaust treatment products of the future in collaboration with its customers. Founded in 1797, the company had sales of MSEK 7,081 in 2011, and is quoted on NASDAQ OMX Stockholm’s Mid Cap List.

For more information, visit our website www.hoganas.com