Zenith Tecnica, a contract manufacturer that builds titanium parts using Electron Beam Melting (EBM), has confirmed a change of ownership and, in the same breath, kicked off a plan to enlarge its production capacity.
The company serves the space and medical fields along with other technically demanding industrial customers. Its buyers are an ownership group drawn from aerospace production and global industrial operations, who have signaled their intent to fund the firm’s next chapter. The deal was completed on 18 June 2026 and, according to Zenith, was built around one objective: growing a business whose quality-driven reputation has pushed demand beyond what its existing facility can handle.
Since launching in 2014, Zenith long operated a fleet of five EBM machines, later adding a sixth, but incoming orders continue to exceed what those systems can deliver. To close the gap, the company is jumping straight to eight machines under this expansion, a move it says will keep it ranked among the world’s biggest EBM producers.
Departing owner Heather Grace, who oversaw consistent growth, said: “When I took ownership of Zenith after my tenure as General Manager, my goal was always to strengthen the business, continue to nurture and build our capable team, and ultimately transition it into the hands of owners who could drive its next stage of growth. I couldn’t be happier with where the company stands today and the opportunities that lie ahead.”
To ease the transition and support the new leadership, Grace will remain as Interim General Manager through the end of August 2026 before gradually stepping toward retirement.
New Owners, A Bigger Footprint, and What Comes Next
The buyers, Andrew Burgess and Blair Jordan, arrive with a track record spanning aerospace manufacturing, including projects connected to Boeing and Amazon‘s low-earth-orbit satellite work, alongside heavily regulated food and dairy settings such as infant formula, where reliability and quality assurance leave no room for error. That experience sits atop a shared history in large-scale industrial operations and engineering-driven business expansion.
At the top of their agenda: bringing two additional EBM machines into service and relocating to a larger premises. “Looking ahead, our goal is simple: focusing on scaling alongside our customers in a way that stays true to how we operate. That means continuing to invest in the capability behind the business, whether that is equipment, people, or floor space, so we can grow capacity without losing the speed and flexibility that our reputation has been built on,” said incoming Managing Director of Zenith Tecnica, Blair Jordan.
Demand continues to rise across aerospace, medical, and other advanced manufacturing markets, and the company frames the sale as the start of an expansion phase. The added EBM systems, larger premises, and broader capabilities are aimed at increasing output and taking on more complex programs for international clients. Zenith holds AS9100 and ISO 13485 certifications and, according to the company, operates one of the largest EBM fleets in the world.
Scaling Through a Change of Ownership
Zenith’s expansion is, in effect, an ownership-led capacity strategy. Rather than funding growth on its own, the business has passed from its founder-to-owner line to a group whose backgrounds are intended to supply both the capital and the operational know-how to lift output.
That model, new owners brought in to push a proven manufacturer into a higher gear, is increasingly common in metal AM. AFM Capital Partners took a majority stake in Incodema3D, a US contract manufacturer serving defense, aerospace and space that had grown from prototyping into production work. Its founders kept significant equity and stayed on, mirroring Zenith’s continuity-plus-capital setup and a wider investor shift toward buying service providers over machine vendors.
The pattern repeats at the corporate level. European group SBO acquired UK metal AM specialist 3T Additive Manufacturing to broaden its capabilities and move from running in-house printers to operating a full-service AM facility for aerospace, medical and automotive customers.
The common thread is straightforward: in metal AM, a change of ownership is increasingly the fastest route to more certified capacity. Zenith is betting fresh backing can accelerate that build-out without diluting the standards that got it here.
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Featured image shows Zenith supplies essential structural components for medical and aerospace programs. Image via Zenith Tecnica.
