Kaneka Aerospace Has Acquired the Composites Portfolio of Henkel Corporation to Further Strengthen Growth, Sales, and Market Position of Kaneka Aerospace Composites

BENECIA, CA., January 9th, 2018 – Kaneka Corporation’s (Tokyo, Japan, President: Mamoru Kadokura) wholly owned subsidiary, Kaneka Americas Holding, Inc. (“KAH”) (Texas, USA, President and CEO: Kazuhiko Fujii), wholly owned subsidiary, Kaneka Aerospace, LLC (“KAE”) (California, USA, President: Raymond Wong) and Henkel Corporation (“Henkel”) (Connecticut, USA, President: Jerry Perkins) have finalized the transfer of commercial rights, technologies and patents of benzoxazine based high performance composites business from Henkel Corporation to Kaneka Aerospace.

KAE was established in September 2017 with the acquisition of Applied Poleramic Inc., which possessed advanced technology for formulated resin used in high performance composites to enter into the promising aerospace business. The addition of Henkel’s benzoxazine based composites business further strengthens KAE’s growth, sales and market position of high performance composite products.

Included in the acquisition are benzoxazine based prepregs, film adhesives, and infusion resins. Several of these products have been qualified in the Aviation Market. The addition of these competitive products and technologies will further enhance the ability of Kaneka Aerospace to penetrate the aerospace market.

Following the acquisition, Kaneka will continue to seek M&A and partnership opportunities for further growth. Kaneka aims to achieve more than USD 200 Million in sales by 2025 in high performance composites in aerospace by fully utilizing Kaneka’s global R&D resources.

About Kaneka Aerospace, LLC
Headquarters: Benicia, California
Business: Manufacture and sales of formulated resins used in aircrafts Representative: Raymond Wong, President
Established: 2017