IMA sells majority stake in electric motor equipment maker ATOP to Lichtenberg Capital

IMA Group has agreed to sell a majority stake in ATOP, an Italian builder of automated production lines and winding machines for electric motor stators and rotors, to a vehicle advised by Austrian investor Lichtenberg Capital. IMA will remain a minority shareholder and industrial partner.

ATOP was founded in 1993 and is headquartered in Barberino Val d’Elsa in Tuscany, where it employs 135 people. The company says it was among the first to industrialize hairpin technology for electric traction motors. Its technology portfolio includes hairpin, coil, flyer, needle, spindle and single-pole winding as well as permanent magnet assembly, and the company holds more than 680 patents. Customers include international OEMs and Tier 1 suppliers, mainly in e-mobility.

Hairpin winding replaces round wire with rectangular copper bars that are bent, inserted into the stator slots and welded. The rectangular cross-section packs more copper into the same slot area, which lowers resistance and improves thermal performance, but the bending, insertion and welding steps demand automation that conventional winding lines can’t provide.

IMA acquired a majority of ATOP in 2019. It says it played a decisive role in the company’s industrialization and international expansion, and that it has decided to hand the operational lead to a partner with dedicated transformation expertise while continuing to contribute its industrial and international network and its technological know-how.

The two companies say the goal of the partnership is to position ATOP for an expected upswing in e-mobility investment. They plan to expand ATOP’s product portfolio and its customer base in e-mobility and adjacent markets.

“IMA is increasingly focusing on its historical core businesses, with particular emphasis on the pharmaceutical sector,” said Alberto Vacchi, Chairman and CEO of IMA Group. “The transfer of the controlling interest in ATOP is therefore part of a broader strategic plan to streamline the Group’s portfolio and strengthen its focus on its core businesses.”

Source: IMA Group