Update: Stratasys and Objet Merger

Unless you don’t pay attention to 3D printing news or have been hiding under a rock, you’ll know the big story of this week is the merger of Stratasys and Objet into a single additive manufacturing (AM) juggernaut. You can see the basics of our coverage here. Today we’re going to update the story with some new information provided by Stratasys.

To begin, if you missed it in the other post, the new company will retain the Stratasys name. The old Stratasys will also maintain control of the company with 55% control of the stock, and the merger was a stock-for-stock deal. Objet will appoint four people to the new company’s board of directors, and Stratasys will appoint five people, but the fifth must be approved by Objet. Combined stock for the new company has an equity value of around $1.4 billion.

Rapid Ready asked Stratasys about the timing of the merger and how long the deal has been in the works.

 Our relationship with Objet dates back to 2003 when we partnered with the company and acted as its North American distributor for three years.  Discussions to make this merger happen began around 10 months ago. The two chairman, Scott (Crump) and Elan (Jaglom), have known each other for years and communicated with each other often.

Although we have always competed with Objet, the two companies really offer very different products. There isn’t much overlap between the capabilities of the two technologies. Stratasys is known for accurate, durable parts that can be used in end products. Objet is known for parts with fine feature detail and smooth surface finish. We believe that a merged company can offer something that no one else can. –Jon Cobb, Stratasys global vice president of marketing

Stratasys says the two different processes used, fused deposition modeling and PolyJet, are complementary and will offer customers a broader choice of how to best fill their needs. Together, the two companies have 500 patents granted and pending. As a single company, the merger allows for customers in a large range of industries, including aerospace, architecture, automotive, end-use consumer goods, educational offerings, medical, dental and toy manufacturers.

The merger is intended to be completed in the third quarter of this year, pending regulatory revues and stockholder approval. Rather than expand further with additional acquisitions, Stratasys told Rapid Ready it intends to focus on building the brands it already controls.

“We believe Stratasys and Objet represent the two top technologies in the additive manufacturing industry,” says Cobb. “We intend to stay focused on developing and growing the brands we have and that staying focused on a limited number of technologies is the best strategy.

“Between Stratasys-branded machines and Objet-branded machines, we will have six 3D printer product lines, but they’re based on only two core technology platforms – Stratasys Fused Deposition Modeling and Objet Photopolymer Jetting,” he continued.

“And of course we also have Solidscape, which is a very high precision system whose forte is the jewelry industry and also is used by the dental and medical industry,” Cobb added. “The Solidscape products are more for niche industries where as Objet and Stratasys branded machines are used across most industries.”

You can find Rapid Ready profiles of the individual companies here: Stratasys, Objet. Check out DE Senior Editor Kenneth Wong’s take on the merger news here.

Source: Stratasys