Costa Mesa-based Ceradyne Inc., a maker of military and industrial ceramics, has taken a minority stake in a Japanese maker of materials for nuclear power plants, solar power, optical networks and chip making.
Ceradyne invested in Kyoto-based Yamanaka EP Corp. Terms of the investment weren’t disclosed.
Yamanaka’s products include boron, a lightweight yet hardy material used in a range of industrial products.
The investment is part of Ceradyne’s push into boron, which is used in cosmetics, nuclear waste management containers, ceramics for water pumps, the thin aluminum coating inside potato chip bags and ceramic dental braces.
As one of Ceradyne’s six primary businesses, boron accounts for about $27 million of the company’s $400 million in annual sales.
By 2016, the company expects annual sales of Boron to hit $100 million.
The move is part of an ongoing diversification at Ceradyne, which built a reputation as a defense contractor in the past decade.
At the company’s 2007 peak, Ceradyne shipped $535 million worth of ceramic body armor for soldiers as defense contracts accounted for 74% of its business.
In 2010, the company shipped less than $100 million worth of bulletproof vests and related products to the Defense Department and U.S. allies. Armor made up about a quarter of Ceradyne’s 2010 sales.
