Acquisition to capitalize on booming demand for direct metal production
3D printer manufacturer 3D Systems Corp. said Wednesday it will acquire an 80 percent ownership stake in France-based Phenix Systems, a global provider of Direct Metal Selective Laser Sintering (DMSLS) 3D printers for a maximum price of $17.32 (€13) per share.
Headquartered in Riom, France, Phenix designs, manufactures and sells proprietary DMSLS 3D printers that can print chemically pure fully dense metal and ceramic parts from very fine powders with the granularity of six to nine microns.
Materials used in the additive metal manufacturing technology include stainless steel, tool steel, super alloys, non-ferrous alloys, precious metals and alumina for numerous applications in the aerospace, automotive, defense and patient-specific medical device manufacturing industries.
“We believe that now is the right time to combine our efforts to take advantage of the accelerating demand for direct metal production,” said François Reymondet, CEO of Phenix Systems.
“Our complementary capabilities in advanced manufacturing combined with our effective R&D and extensive marketplace reach and coverage are sure to result in current and future direct metal solutions that will delight our customers,” said Avi Reichental, CEO of 3D Systems.
Headquartered in Rock Hill, S.C., 3D Systems (NYSE: DDD), which has made over a dozen acquisitions in the past 24 months, manufactures and markets commercial and consumer 3D printers, printing materials and software services as well as CAD modeling, reverse engineering and inspection software tools.
The transaction is expected to close in July, after which 3D Systems said it will launch a takeover bid for the remaining 20 percent of Phenix, which is listed on France’s stock exchange, followed by a “squeeze-out procedure should it reach 95 percent of the shares or voting rights” of Phenix, during the second half of 2013, 3D Systems said.
The acquisition is expected to be accretive to 3D Systems’ earnings per share in its first full year.
