06-19-2013: Stratasys acquired MakerBot
This event forever changed the foundations of the desktop 3D printing market
On June 19, 2013, Stratasys – the inventor of FDM technology and one of the leaders in the industrial AM market, acquired MakerBot Industries – historically the first and largest manufacturer of amateur and desktop 3D printers in this dynamically developing market. The transaction was a stock-for-stock transaction and was worth approximately USD 403 million, based on the Stratasys stock price on the day of the announcement.
MakerBot was founded in 2009, and quickly become the absolute leader of emerging low-cost 3D printers market. Company’s co-founder – Bre Pettis, became the face of the industry, which was expected to soon become the "next big thing" in the world of new technologies and manufacturing industry in general.
Until mid-June 2013 MakerBot has sold more than 22,000 3D printers, and in the last nine months, the MakerBot Replicator 2 3D printer accounted for 11,000 of those sales. Importantly, in January 2014, Pettis announced that total sales had already reached 44,000, so the increase was gigantic.
Unfortunately, things haven't gone so smoothly for MakerBot since the transaction... The new 3D printers presented in January 2014 turned out to be flawed, which on the one hand seriously damaged the company's reputation, and in the end ended with lawsuits against MakerBot and Stratasys. Bre Pettis first left MakerBot itself, moving to Stratasys, and finally, two years after the transaction, left the company and the 3D printing industry altogether.
MakerBot itself struggled for many years to establish its own identity, being torn between the industrial sector (where it had to compete with Stratasys itself) and the educational sector, where although it had a leading position, it was not as attractive in terms of revenues.
Eventually, after several years the company merged with the Dutch Ultimaker, creating an entirely new entity.
Source: www.stratasys.com