2024 will be a difficult year for the industry.
According to incomplete statistics, almost 10 foreign companies are on the verge of bankruptcy or have declared bankruptcy. Many businesses must sell equipment or seek buyers to survive. Although there has been no news of corporate bankruptcies or acquisitions in China, many companies have been exposed to significant declines in performance, and signals from the industry cannot be ignored. Among them, last year’s acquisition war around Stratasys has been settled, but Nano Dimension continues to make frequent moves and has made many blockbuster acquisitions, becoming the focus of attention this year.
The following resource library summarizes the 10 important M&A events in the 3D printing industry in 2024, in chronological order, for your reference.
On March 4, Stratasys announced the acquisition of the intellectual property rights of 3D printing company Arevo, officially kicking off mergers and acquisitions in the 3D printing industry in 2024. The acquisition covers Arevo’s core technologies including carbon fiber 3D printing technology, improving Z-axis strength through local laser fusion and lamination, monitoring in-situ and artificial intelligence (AI) construction, as well as basic hardware design patents. This decision further consolidates Stratasys’ strategic configuration in the field of high-performance materials.
Arevo was founded in 2014 and is headquartered in Silicon Valley, USA. It is famous for its continuous carbon fiber 3D printing technology. The company’s total historic funding exceeds US$90 million and it has launched the Aqua series of large-scale, high-speed continuous carbon fiber composite 3D printers, as well as polymer composite materials that are five times stronger than metallic titanium.
On July 3, Nano Dimension and Desktop Metal, Inc. jointly announced that they had reached a final agreement. Nano Dimension will acquire all outstanding shares of Desktop Metal in an all-cash transaction of US$5.50 per share. The transaction represents a 27.3% premium to Desktop Metal’s closing price, for a total consideration of approximately US$183 million, but could be adjusted to US$135 million. The transaction is expected to be completed in the fourth quarter of 2024.
Desktop Metal was founded in 2015 and is headquartered in Massachusetts, USA. It is an innovative company focused on metal and polymer additive manufacturing technology and famous for its efficient and inexpensive binder jetting technology. On December 10, 2020, Desktop Metal was listed on the New York Stock Exchange via SPAC, and subsequently expanded its product portfolio through several major acquisitions.
On July 3, Forward AM management and BASF jointly announced that Forward AM management (under the leadership of CEO Martin Back) would strategically acquire BASF’s additive manufacturing business and create the company Forward AM Technologies (also known as the name Forward AM). The acquisition includes Forward AM’s materials and solutions, as well as its Sculpteo 3D printing services business.
Forward AM is a trademark of BASF that focuses on new materials and system solutions for additive manufacturing. It was established in 2019 and is committed to providing comprehensive solutions from material research and development, software support to printing services. However, just four months after its founding, on November 21, Forward AM filed for bankruptcy protection with the Heidelberg District Court in Germany.
On July 11, Formlabs announced the acquisition of Micronics, which gained attention for its first $2,999 desktop SLS 3D printer, Micron, on Kickstarter. Once the acquisition was finalized, the crowdfunding campaign was canceled and both founders joined the Formlabs team to focus on developing the next generation of SLS 3D printers.
Micronics was founded in2021,is a 3D printing startup headquartered in Wisconsin, USA, founded by Henry Chan and Luke Boppart. The company focuses on developing cost-effective Selective Laser Sintering (SLS) desktop 3D printers. With the completion of this acquisition, it also means that a potential low-cost SLS 3D printer has been “strangled” in the cradle before its launch.
On August 2, Manuevo BV, consisting of the members of the Eindhoven factory and the two founders of Shapeways, acquired the European assets of Shapeways BV and continued to provide 3D printing services. On December 3, the new management team completed the acquisition of Shapeways’ assets in the Netherlands and the United States, obtained ownership of the brand and operated under its original name. Currently, the Shapeways website has been reopened and users can access it normally.
Shapeways is a company focused on providing 3D printing services and manufacturing solutions. It was founded in 2007 and is headquartered in New York, United States. The company is committed to providing high-quality on-demand manufacturing services to individuals and businesses, supporting a variety of materials and technologies. Shapeways listed on the New York Stock Exchange on September 30, 2021 and declared bankruptcy in July 2024.
On September 25, Nano Dimension announced the acquisition of Markforged for $115 million in cash, at a price of $5.00 per share, a 71.8% premium to the September 24, 2024 VWAP. was unanimously approved by the boards of directors of both parties and is expected to be finalized in the first quarter of 2025. This is another major transaction for Nano Dimension after the announcement of the acquisition of Desktop Metal.
Founded in 2013 and based in Massachusetts, USA, Markforged is a company focused on industrial-grade 3D printing solutions. It is famous for its innovative carbon fiber and metal 3D printing technologies, offering high-strength, low-cost manufacturing solutions. The company was listed on the New York Stock Exchange on July 15, 2021, but due to poor stock price performance after listing, it received several delisting warnings from the New York Stock Exchange.
On December 3, Voxeljet AG announced the sale of its entire business to Anzu Partners LLC for approximately $20 million. Of this amount, 1.7 million euros will be paid in cash and the remaining amount will be paid through debt securities. The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of 2025. Anzu Partners is a long-term investor in Voxeljet, focused on supporting industrial and life sciences technology companies with industry-changing potential.
Voxeljet AG was founded in 1999 and is headquartered in Germany. It is a company focused on industrial-grade 3D printing technology, particularly in the area of binder and sandblast 3D printing. The company was listed on Nasdaq on October 18, 2013, but was delisted in August 2023 because it failed to meet Nasdaq’s minimum price requirements.
On December 18, Shapeways announced the acquisition of a majority stake in 3D file sharing platform Thangs which will be renamed Thangs 3D Inc. and become a subsidiary of Shapeways. In the future, Thangs will cater to creators and makers, while Shapeways will focus on professional customer services. After this acquisition, Thangs will also introduce print-on-demand functions to achieve seamless one-click conversion of data into physical objects.
Thangs is an online platform integrating 3D file sharing, geometric research and intellectual property protection, providing 3D creation and collaboration services for designers and manufacturers. Developed by Physna, Inc. since its launch in 2020, it has grown into an active 3D printing community with over 24 million printable models.
3D Systems announced the sale of its Geomagic software portfolio to Hexagon Manufacturing Intelligence for $123 million, with the transaction expected to close in the first half of 2025. The transaction covers software such as Design X, Control X, Freeform, Wrap and Geomagic for SolidWorks. Geomagic was originally developed by Geomagic Corporation and was acquired by 3D Systems in 2013.
Geomagic was founded in 1997 and is headquartered in North Carolina. Geomagic developed by him is a professional 3D scanning and reverse engineering software. It is widely used to process 3D scanning data, generate high-precision CAD models, and support design inspection and optimization processes. and 3D data processing.
The top ten mergers and acquisitions to take place in the 3D printing sector in 2024 cover the integration of key companies and technologies across the world, involving industrial equipment manufacturing, materials research and development , software development and other fields. As 2025 approaches, industry consolidation may continue and will no longer be limited to foreign countries.
