Nano Dimension announced plans Wednesday to acquire Desktop Metal. The finer financial details are still being worked out, with the sale price ultimately ranging anywhere from $135 million to $183 million. At the high end, the deal marks more than a 27% premium over Desktop Metal’s closing price.
The news brings closure to more than two years of volleying back and forth between some of the biggest names in additive manufacturing. After the once red-hot Desktop Metal underwent a 12% staff cut in July 2022, Nano Dimension acquired 12% of industrial 3D printing giant (and MakerBot owner) Stratasys. Last year saw Nano Dimension dealing with its own shareholder drama, as Desktop Metal went through another round of layoffs.
A few months later, Nano Dimension made a bid to take over Stratasys, which the latter rejected. Within a month, Stratasys and Desktop Metal announced merger plans. 3D System followed the news with its own bid to acquire Stratasys. Multiple acquisition offers from both Nano Dimension and 3D Systems arrived — and were rejected — in the intervening months. The Stratasys/Desktop Metal deal fell through in September.
Industry publication TCT Magazine, which has covered the entire operatic saga closely, spoke to Desktop Metal CEO Ric Fulop that same month.
“We’re 100% independent. Our company is not for sale. Contrary to what people make up, if you look at our cash position and our expenses, going into our first profitable quarter with around $100 million,” Fulop said at the time. “We don’t need to sell our company, we like our company. And we weren’t selling our company, we were merging our company, we were going to remain working at the company. So, I would say our goal going forward is to grow Desktop Metal independently and make it the best company in mass production in additive.”
Eight months later, Fulop sounds positive about the Nano Dimension news. He notes in a statement:
We’re excited to bring together our pioneering, complementary product portfolios that will further enhance our ability to serve our customers in high-growth industries with a more complete offering of digital manufacturing technologies for metal, electronics, casting, polymer, micro-polymer and ceramics applications. We look forward to working with Nano Dimension to join two great companies and their devoted teams that can serve our stakeholders to the maximum extent possible.
According to Nano Dimension, the deal was “unanimously approved” by both companies’ boards of directors. Nano Dimension plans to pay for the deal using cash on hand, once it closes in Q4 of this year.
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