Acquisition
3D printing industry leader Stratasys has announced it is set to make two major acquisitions in 2014.
The additive manufacturing technology giant has made it known that it has entered into definitive agreements to acquire Solid Concepts and Harvest Technologies - both privately-held companies.
Under the agreement terms with Solid Concepts, Stratasys will acquire the Californian organisation for up to $295 million, including a payment on closing of $172 million. Stratasys will acquire Harvest Technologies for an undisclosed amount.
Solid Concepts is the largest independent additive manufacturing service bureau in North America and is a fast-growing partner to Stratasys' existing digital manufacturing organisation RedEye. Founded in 1992 with some 450 employees, Solid Concepts has developed extensive US infrastructure and is well known in the additive manufacturing industry. Stratasys will combine both Solid Concepts and Harvest Technologies - a leading provider of 3D printing technologies based in Texas with some 80 staff - with RedEye in order to establish a single, powerful additive manufacturing service bureau unit.
CEO of Stratasys David Reis commented: "We are pleased to announce these strategic transactions, which will enable us to provide customers with a comprehensive offering that addresses a broad spectrum of additive manufacturing solutions."
The deals are set to reach their conclusion in the upcoming third quarter of 2014 subject to customary closing conditions and are anticipated to be accretive to Stratasys' non-GAAP earnings per share within the first 12 months after closing.
President of Solid Concepts Joe Allison will join Stratasys' management team and lead the combined parts business, supported by the leadership teams of Solid Concepts, Harvest Technologies and RedEye.
Allison said: "We are excited to be joining forces with Stratasys, a global leader in 3D printing and additive manufacturing. As part of a larger company with a broad customer reach and market coverage, Solid Concepts will be even better positioned to meet the significant demand for our additive manufacturing offerings. We look forward to working with Stratasys to ensure a smooth and orderly integration of our businesses."
With the addition of Solid Concepts and Harvest Technologies, Stratasys is building a dominant strategic platform for meeting the additive manufacturing needs of industry through an expanded technology and business offering. Both companies will provide Stratasys with considerable manufacturing and end-use parts production capabilities, infrastructure, capacity and process knowledge which will serve to make additive manufacturing more accessible to companies throughout the US.
President of Harvest Technologies David K. Leigh was "delighted" by the news, stating the deal would "enhance Harvest Technologies’ leadership in producing end-use parts using the most advanced additive manufacturing technologies and processes".
Along with RedEye, Solid Concepts' expertise in manufacturing and key growth areas such as medical and aerospace, together with Harvest Technologies' knowhow in parts production, materials and systems will fortify Stratasys' direct digital manufacturing and parts production intelligence.
Reis continued: "With Solid Concepts and Harvest Technologies, together with RedEye, we expect to create a strategic platform to meet our customers’ additive manufacturing requirements by significantly expanding our offering, targeting new applications and strengthening our customer relationships. As our customers’ requirements continue to expand, we must evolve to create full service offerings that provide a variety of technologies and custom manufacturing solutions and focus on high-end production applications.
"Solid Concepts and Harvest Technologies are industry pioneers and innovators in the additive manufacturing space. In acquiring these two unique companies, Stratasys is gaining a broad solutions offering with technologies and decades of application and manufacturing experience which, together with RedEye, are expected to create an industry-leading additive manufacturing and parts production platform."
He added: "We will apply our integration expertise to combine Solid Concepts and Harvest Technologies with our existing RedEye digital manufacturing service business to form a single business unit focused on additive manufacturing services. Importantly, with our shared cultures of innovation and customer service, we believe this will be a smooth transition. We look forward to welcoming the talented teams of Solid Concepts and Harvest Technologies to Stratasys – we are confident we have a very bright future together."
Stratasys has already made big headlines this year with the announcement of its industry-disrupting multi-colour, multi-material 3D printer the Objet500 Connex3, while the company's massive acquisition of MakerBot in summer 2013 was arguably the biggest 3D printing story of last year.
