Yoav Stern's major consolidation
The Atomic Layers: S2E26 (00052)
Atomic Layer of the Day:
This will either become a huge milestone in the global AM industry, or sooner or later, it might implode like 3D Systems did in 2015... But for now, let's not assume the worst-case scenarios. For the moment, it looks impressive!
Yesterday, Nano Dimension announced that it is acquiring Markforged, a very nice and innovative company, for $115 million. Markforged has been struggling with serious financial challenges for some time. You can read the details of the acquisition in this article. It contains all the key information as well as my personal commentary on the matter, written on the spot.
Here, I’ll just add two things:
The news of Nano Dimension’s acquisition of Markforged coincided with the Federal Reserve's interest rate cut, which could increase the ability of American companies to invest in machinery – including industrial 3D printers. I’m not sure how much of this was planned, but as a result, Nano Dimension managed to acquire Markforged at a time when its sales were down and the company’s value was at its lowest. At the same time, the anticipated rise in demand for machines in the U.S. may soon turn things around.
The second interesting point is that the U.S. Bureau of Industry and Security announced new export regulations for technologies, including metal 3D printing. These restrictions could benefit Nano Dimension, especially now that its portfolio includes Desktop Metal with ExOne and Markforged with Digital Metal.
So, on paper, everything looks great at the moment. Now it all depends on Nano Dimension CEO Yoav Stern and whether he can piece it all together into a cohesive whole. Will the competing companies start collaborating? Let’s not forget that the conglomerate also includes Admatec, Formatec, and Global Inkjet Systems... That’s a lot of companies and their CEO’ egos…
Atomic Layer from the Past:
09-26-2012: the Kickstarter campaign for hashtag FORM 1 - the first desktop SLA 3D printer, was launched.
Atomic News & Gossips:
I wonder what the distributors of Desktop Metal and Markforged, who have been rewarded for hating opposing brands so far, will do? Will they join forces? Will they start to become friends?
Prusa has launched a new, high-performance filament Prusament PEI 1010.
Tri-Tech 3D releases SAF Polypropylene (PP) material for Stratasys H350 powder 3D printers.