07-07-2016: Dariusz Miłek – the fourth richest man in Poland, bought 15% of Zortrax for PLN 44 million
He withdrew, when month later the scandal of (un)sold 3D printers to DELL came to light
On July 7, 2016, Zortrax announced that it had sold 15% of shares to Dariusz Miłek - the owner of the CCC shoe chain and the fourth richest Pole in the Forbes ranking (ranked in 2015). The value of the transaction amounted to PLN 44 million (i.e. ~ EUR 10 million at the then exchange rate) and took place as part of a pre-IPO issue. Zortrax sold over 1.2 million shares and the capital was provided by Ultro - Dariusz Miłek's investment vehicle. This transaction was one of the largest on the capital market that took place in 2016 in Poland.
Dariusz Miłek is the founder of CCC - in 2016 the second largest shoe chain in Europe, second only to the German Deichmann in terms of size. The entrepreneur also became the youngest Polish billionaire. It was his first investment in a technology company dealing with 3D printing - and as it turned out, his last...
This could have been a really beautiful story. Only a week earlier, Zortrax presented the Zortrax M300 at the fair in Amsterdam, where it was undoubtedly their biggest star. The company fought for the title of leader in European 3D printing, recording high year-on-year revenue growth and real - not accounting - profits!
But karma returns. All this would not be possible if it were not for the big lie that occurred at the very beginning of the company's career. In January 2014, Zortrax announced that it had sold 5,000 3D printers to DELL's Asian subsidiary. On August 2, 2016, the 3DPrint.com portal exposed the truth, proving that the transaction never took place. A great scandal broke out.
Shortly thereafter, Ultro quietly withdrew from the transaction, leaving a small fraction of the announced and pledged amount. Although it was never officially confirmed, Dariusz Miłek withdrew from the transaction precisely because of the outbreak of this scandal. I know this from a very good source - "I know a man who knows a man who knows the case."
It was another breakthrough event in the company's history, unfortunately nestled in the "failure" basket. Zortrax never obtained comparable financing again, and today, as we know, it is fighting for survival, undergoing deep restructuring.
Source: www.centrumdruku3d.pl