Nano Dimension Buys a Chunk of 3D Printing Stalwart Stratasys – 3DPrint.com

6fde Nano Dimension 6fde (Nasdaq:  6fde NNDM 6fde ) has been on an 6fde acquisition spree over the past 6fde year, picking up smaller businesses 6fde that can strengthen its portfolio. 6fde Its most recent buy, however, 6fde isn’t so small. The U.S.-Israeli 6fde electronics 3D printing firm has 6fde purchased 12.12% of the outstanding 6fde ordinary shares of 3D printing 6fde stalwart 6fde Stratasys Ltd. 6fde (Nasdaq: 6fde SSYS 6fde ).

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6fde With its 6fde DragonFly IV 3D printer 6fde , Nano Dimension enables customers 6fde the ability to produce printed 6fde circuit boards (PCBs) with complex 6fde geometries. This has given it 6fde the ability to acquire several 6fde firms that will make up 6fde an increasingly advanced additively manufactured 6fde electronics (AME) platform.

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6fde Nano Dimensions’ electronics 3D 6fde printing process. Image courtesy of 6fde Nano Dimension.

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6fde The 6fde purchase 6fde of Nanofabrica brings micro 6fde additive manufacturing (AM) capabilities to 6fde the company, while its 6fde acquisition 6fde of Deep Cube powers 6fde machine learning for improved quality 6fde control. 6fde Buying 6fde Essemtec adds electronics assembly. 6fde Most recently, Nano Dimension 6fde grabbed 6fde Admatec and Formtec, the 6fde exact implications of which for 6fde AME is still unknown. However, 6fde it’s possible that these open 6fde up the ability to 3D 6fde print metal and ceramic parts 6fde for PCBs. Moreover, they provide 6fde additional revenue streams for Nano 6fde Dimension.

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6fde Now, Nano Dimension has taken 6fde out a chunk of Stratasys 6fde shares, which could give it 6fde a say in the firm’s 6fde business decisions, allow the two 6fde companies to grow one another 6fde mutually, and give it more 6fde funds going forward. This is 6fde particularly important since, as one 6fde of the most established original 6fde equipment manufacturers (OEM) in the 6fde 3D printing space, Stratasys has 6fde the largest market share of 6fde any AM OEM.

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6fde Stratasys sintered parts processed 6fde with DyeMansion coloring technology. Image 6fde courtesy of Stratasys.

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6fde Stratasys’s market share, however, has 6fde also been declining year over 6fde year, according to the latest 6fde Wohlers Report. It has swapped 6fde out CEOs regularly since the 6fde consumer 3D printing bubble of 6fde 2014. In Q1 of 2021, 6fde it did have its 6fde strongest quarter 6fde in six years, and 6fde generated $521 million in revenue 6fde in 2020 and $607 million 6fde in 2021. Stratasys has made 6fde its own purchases, including that 6fde of Xaar 3D to power 6fde its new polymer sintering technology, 6fde as well as Origin and 6fde RPS to give it vat 6fde photopolymerization technologies. Interestingly, Stratasys also 6fde sold MakerBot to Ultimaker, while 6fde also investing in the latter 6fde company. Altogether, it has one 6fde of the widest technology portfolios 6fde after 3D Systems, including its 6fde material extrusion process and inkjet. 6fde Inkjet, in particular, should complement 6fde the inkjet process of Nano 6fde Dimension’s own Dragon Fly IV 6fde system, which 3DPrint.com saw in 6fde person earlier this year.

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6fde Yoav Stern, Chairman and Chief 6fde Executive Officer of Nano Dimension, 6fde commented: “The purpose of Nano 6fde Dimension in buying Stratasys shares 6fde is the formation of a 6fde strategic investment in a market-leader 6fde which is well established in 6fde a relatively seasoned market segment, 6fde while Nano Dimension’s disruptive technologies 6fde in AME and 3D metal 6fde printing supply its shareholders with 6fde value created by accelerated growth 6fde and expansion curves. Hence, an 6fde investor in Nano Dimension will 6fde gain from its value creation 6fde in ‘blue ocean’ type AM 6fde sectors plus having strategic upside 6fde from investment in Stratasys, which 6fde enjoys a commanding presence in 6fde large, stable more mature, mostly 6fde polymer-based AM technologies. In contrast, 6fde Nano Dimension’s material development thrusts 6fde and business model strategy are 6fde centered around metals with electro-mechanical 6fde conductive parameters, metals with superior 6fde mechanical qualities, dielectric material, and 6fde printing of multi-dimensional-electronic devices and 6fde mechanical parts.

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6fde “Incidentally,” Mr. Stern concluded, “We 6fde may increase or decrease our 6fde investment in Stratasys, subject to 6fde market conditions and other economic 6fde factors, while keeping it under 6fde the framework and envelop which 6fde will evolve from the description 6fde above.”

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6fde Given that, through its 2012 6fde merger with Objet, Stratasys is 6fde also partially Israeli, the synergies 6fde with Nano Dimension are strong. 6fde If the two were to 6fde form a single entity, it 6fde would create the only major 6fde OEM capable of electronics 3D 6fde printing. Though this is still 6fde an emerging sector, it’s obvious 6fde that companies ranging 6fde from Google to Apple 6fde , as well as every 6fde major military, is researching electronics 6fde 3D printing. So, the prospect 6fde of a complete merger would 6fde be an enticing one. 3DPrint.com’s 6fde Matt Kremenetsky suggested that a 6fde major 3D printer OEM purchase 6fde an AME firm and it’s 6fde possible that that could play 6fde out, though not exactly as 6fde envisioned.

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