Materialise
Materialise has agreed to exercise its option to acquire Link3D, with the $33.5 million deal expected to close before the end of the year.
Though the deal is still subject to set of conditions considered ‘typical for this type of transaction’, Materialise expects to acquire 100% of the Link3D equity interests in the next few weeks. Materialise's interest in acquiring Link3D was first announced in April, with CEO Fried Vancraen suggesting the move would “help us to remove some of the complexity associated with scaling 3D printing as part of a connected, industrial manufacturing process.”
The acquisition of Link3D falls under Materialise’s cloud-based platform strategy, in which it aims to offer users access to a ‘continuously growing set of digital tools’ via the cloud. These tools will allow companies to personalise and manage their 3D printing processes and workflows, with the integration of Link3D’s offering being particularly pertinent to companies wanting to scale up their additive manufacturing operations for volume production.
As part of this enhanced offering, Link3D’s MES solution is to be integrated with the Materialise Magics software suite into a ‘unified and cloud-based software platform’ that will enable users to run ‘efficient, repeatable and automated processes’ for the mass production of identical or customised products. Link3D has spent years building out its software portfolio - currently offering Quality Management System, Data Analytics capabilities and an Order Entry and Costing tool, in addition to its MES platform, via the cloud and has also aligned with the likes of EOS, Autodesk, Carpenter Additive and Additive Rocket Corporation. Such progress has caught the eye of Materialise and enticed one of the leading additive manufacturing companies to acquire the firm.
“Materialise continues to lead the way in advancing the AM industry and this acquisition strengthens our position in the high-growth manufacturing market,” commented Vancraen. “As companies accelerate the adoption of additive manufacturing into increasingly digital production environments, they require a strong and unified AM software platform. Today’s announcement creates a merger of forces that serves as the foundation for such a scalable and sustainable platform.”
“In recent years, we have carefully developed our platform strategy,” added Stefan Motte, VP and General Manager of Materialise Software. “By joining forces with Link3D, we can accelerate the realisation of this strategy, which will allow our customers to define and run the most optimal, efficient and sustainable production process. Not only for the production of one-offs, but in particular for scaling production in complex and distributed ecosystems.”
“It has always been our mission to help companies scale additive manufacturing and help them achieve their ROI goals”, offered Vishal Singh, CTO and Co-Founder of Link3D. “This is a landmark day for the AM industry. The combination of two innovation leaders committed to relentless pursuit of the promise of digital manufacturing.”
The TCT Conference @ Formnext is your best opportunity to find out how AM is impacting the world today, and how it will develop in future. Buy your tickets now!
Want to discuss? Join the conversation on the Additive Manufacturing Global Community Discord.
Get your FREE print subscription to TCT Magazine.
