JXTG : Acquisition of OxMet Technologies Ltd. Shares

　JX Nippon Mining & Metals Corporation (President: Seiichi Murayama; 'the Company') has reached agreement as of December 23 of this year with OxMet Technologies Ltd. ('OxMet'), a UK startup company designing alloys for use with metal Additive Manufacturing (AM), to acquire 25.1% of OxMet shares for £6.2m.

　OxMet, established in 2017 as an Oxford University spin-off venture, carries out business in areas such as design of mainly titanium and nickel alloys for use in metal AM, and licensing of its newly designed alloys. Based on more than 20 years of alloys research at Oxford University, OxMet has proprietary simulation technology combining machine learning and metallurgy theory models. Given the necessary data, it can design new alloys in a very short time. In addition, along with the signing of this agreement, OxMet plans to acquire all the shares of Betatype Ltd., a UK startup company conducting original software development for metal AM equipment.

　Metal AM with their ability to form complex shapes are advantageous for small-lot and made-to-order production, and their market size is expected to grow. Along with this growth, rising needs are seen for the metal powders that are materials for these printers. Keys to their development and manufacture are the design of alloys optimized to the processes specific to metal AM, and development of software for controlling the forming equipment. This investment will spur close collaboration between OxMet, with its leading-edge technologies in this area, and the JX Nippon Mining & Metals Group, with our manufacturing and development strength in various metal materials gained over long experience. Through this collaboration, we aim to build up readiness as a one-stop answer to broad-ranging customer needs, and to grow into an industry-leading presence. One benefit for the Company is that we will be able to develop human resources capable of leading technology development in the next generation by sending our engineers to OxMet, a rapidly growing startup company composed mostly of excellent metallurgy and software engineers. We will also seek opportunities to send our engineers to Oxford University with which OxMet has a cooperative relationship.

　In the 2040 JX Nippon Mining & Metals Group Long-Term Vision announced in June 2019, we are actively collaborating with startups and academia to create new ventures in focus businesses. The tie-up announced here is very much an example of this strategy in overseas. The Company will continue carrying out various measures for further developing and strengthening these focus businesses, and will contribute to realization of a sustainable society by proposing and providing state-of-the-art materials.

For reference

◆ Overview of OxMet (as of December 1, 2019)

Name	OxMet Technologies Ltd.
Location	Unit 15, Oxford Industrial Park, OX5 1QU, UK
Representative	CEO Michael Holmes
Main business operations	Development of titanium, nickel and other alloys Licensing of newly designed alloys Consulting on structural material alloys
Established	2017 (as an Oxford University spin-off venture)

◆ Overview of Betatype (as of December 1, 2019)

Name	Betatype Ltd.
Location	Unit 4 Bow Enterprise Park, 17 Fittleton Gardens, London, E3 3TZ, UK
Representative	CEO Sarat Babu
Main business operations	Introduction support and software development of AM
Established	2012