As we were adding the finishing touches to the first of what will be a quarterly feature of our Deep Dives and newsletter content, some rather weighty, and very relevant, news dropped.
For an editor who thought they could tick off another task on the to-do list, it's the worst kind.
For an editor who was covering the Great AM M&A Saga of 2023, it's the very worst kind, actually.
Our first-ever Deep Dives newsletter focused on this very topic. As Nano Dimension chased Stratasys, and as Stratasys pursued a $1.8m merger with Desktop Metal, and as 3D Systems did its very best to wade in on the action, we explored the implications of the various potential outcomes, the external pressures affecting the companies involved, and sought to assess where it would all end up - a valiant effort, I'm sure you'll agree.
The plan for our Deep Dives content then was to produce a long-form feature focused on AM financials and business matters every quarter. We never got around to it. Until now.
As happenstance would have it, the big business story of the year so far came this week, as Stratasys acquired MarkForged from Nano Dimension for nearly a third of the value of Nano's own acquisition of MarkForged 13 months ago. Tired of this, already? Fine, we won't dwell on it too long.
The headlines are this:
- In April 2025, Nano Dimension (finally) completed its acquisition of MarkForged in a deal worth $116 million ($5.00 per share) and quickly discarded Desktop Metal - another of its short-lived and rather expensive acquisitions - for a less than ideal fraction of the purchase price.
- Throughout 2025, Nano Dimension generated $102.4 million, of which approximately $70 million could be attributed to MarkForged products.
- Yet, through a combination of direct and indirect operating costs, Nano has reported $15m in annualised cash burn that it expects to save with the sale of MarkForged.
So, as Stratasys presses on to complete the deal this year, what is it buying? Well, to use a sporting analogy, MarkForged is like a young prodigy who breaks through at a young age, exhibiting all the potential and seemingly having all the tools, only to never quite live up to the hype. Because of the hope and the promise, however, they're the kind of player who never gets completely written off. And though it's actually been more than a decade since their emergence, the commentariat continues to talk about them in the future tense, as though the potential may still be realised.
And it may yet be. But Stratasys will have knots to untangle and hurdles to overcome if it is to do so.
MarkForged brought a working technology to market, helping to fly the flag for composite 3D printing and fight the fight for more accessible metal AM solutions. But multiple patent infringement disputes slowed its progress and did nothing good for its reputation, the price point of its polymer and composite machines has proved to be a barrier for adoption, and its steadfast refusal to open up those machines to third-party material products has proved a point of contention for users. It burdened itself with a hefty amount of venture capital, was among the several failed SPAC public listings of the Covid era, and has been bought and sold by Nano in just over a year. Unshackling this baggage will be no mean feat.
