AFL, a manufacturer of fiber optic products and equipment, announced that it is investing $155 million to expand its manufacturing operations across Spartanburg County in South Carolina.

A press release said that the initiative will create more than 150 new jobs over the next two to five years. A subsidiary of Japan’s Fujikura, Ltd., AFL’s product lines include fiber optic cable and hardware, transmission and substation accessories and more, that is marketed to some 130 countries.

AFL will expand all of its fiber optic cable manufacturing operations located across Duncan. Last March, AFL announced that it would invest more than $50 million to expand its operations in Spartanburg County to support AFL’s portfolio of products compliant with the Build America, Buy America Act (BABA).

AFL was formed on Nov. 2, 1984, by Alcoa Securities Corporation, a subsidiary of ALCOA and Fujikura Ltd. AFL manufactures fiber optic ground wire (entrance cables for sale to the public utility industry) at its Duncan facility. In 2005, Fujikura assumed 100% ownership of AFL and moved its headquarters to Duncan.

Mirae Asset Global Investments (Mirae) announced that it has made a $200 million investment in Essex Solutions, a U.S. magnet wire manufacturer through a holding company owned by South Korea’s LS Cable & System.

Last August, Superior Essex, as part of its buyout of Essex Furukawa Magnet Wire, announced that the company would change its brand name to Essex Solutions. Under the new name it would encompass all current Essex Furukawa Magnet Wire locations worldwide. That includes Essex Energy in Italy. Also, to further strengthen operations, the related businesses Lacroix + Kress, IVA Insulations and Hi-Wire would join the Essex Solutions organization, while continuing to operate under their existing brand identity.

A January press release said that the latest news fits in the company’s plans. “With the investment, the market capitalization of Essex Solutions is to jump to around $1 billion, bolstering its initial public offering plan. LS Group seeks to make Essex Solutions go public within this year.”

Per a report in Korea JoonAng Daily, the consortium of Mirae Asset and the Korea Climate & Governance Improvement Fund secured around a 20% stake in Essex Solutions. The pre-IPO valuation of Essex Solutions was approximately $1 billion. It noted that Essex Solutions holds a dominance in the U.S. magnet wire market as the leading supplier, with production bases across North and South America, Europe and Asia. The company aims to secure a market share of more than 70% in North America and 50% in Europe in the next five years. The LS Group holding company plans to list the company on Nasdaq.

Founded in 1997, Mirae Asset notes that it is one of the largest independent financial groups in Asia, providing comprehensive services to clients worldwide. It has a presence in 19 global markets and the group’s managed assets worldwide exceed US$632.3 billion.

Gauder Group, Inc., has changed its official name to Setic-Pourtier of America, Inc.

A press release said that the new name was chosen to reinforce brand recognition for Setic-Pourtier and create consistency across all Setic-Pourtier subdivisions. The rebranding will create cross selling and support opportunities, operational efficiency as well as generating growth and expansion.

Setic designs and manufactures high-speed rotating machines to produce special & LAN cables as well as double-twist bunchers/stranders for the power cable and automotive industry. Pourtier develops heavy-duty rotating machines to produce power cables, specializing in high voltage and extra-high voltage cable.

Southwire Company, LLC, announced that it has made a strategic investment in Ndustrial.Io, Inc., an AI-powered energy intensity platform for industry.

A press release said that Ndustrial is the largest deployment of energy management and digitization solutions in food logistics and cold chain, processing 100 million data points daily. In the last 12 months, the company has deployed its technology in 122 facilities across 17 countries. As the first and only platform to integrate with over 60 different industrial data systems, Ndustrial empowers customers to access critical analytics and proactive suggestions to reduce energy consumption and emissions.

“Our investment in Ndustrial reflects our commitment to advancing solutions that drive both operational efficiency and sustainability,” said Se Oh, Southwire’s vice president, Operational Sustainability. “Their energy management platform empowers industrial facilities to optimize production processes, significantly reducing energy consumption and carbon emissions. We are excited to support Ndustrial as they unlock new opportunities for businesses to enhance performance while contributing to a more sustainable future.”

Using a combination of AI, machine learning, automated devices and IoT technology, Ndustrial is helping more than 400 facilities across more than 10% of the food supply chain do everything from shift production timeframes to minimize costs to optimizing distribution center energy use. The company installed 304 meters, 388 sensors, 47 gateways and 11 edge devices for customers in the past 12 months, empowering companies to make data-driven decisions that optimize energy efficiency and reduce costs.

As a part of its investment, Southwire plans to deploy Ndustrial’s technology at several of its own manufacturing facilities to support its Growing Green initiative to optimize production and reduce carbon emissions. Southwire will also serve as a wire and cable solutions supplier to Ndustrial’s electric transport refrigeration units (eTRU) power infrastructure customers.