In a recent press release, 3D printing giant Stratasys announced its plans to acquire two additive manufacturing service bureaus: Solid Concepts and Harvest Technologies.
According to the press release, Stratasys will pay up to $295M for Solid Concepts, a company with $65M in revenue in 2013. Solid Concepts has six service centers within the US and another based in Shenzen, China, meaning Stratasys’ acquisition of the company will give them even greater reach and brand recognition among engineers and designers looking to use state-of-the-art 3D printing technology.
In addition to Solid Concepts, Stratasys will acquire Harvest Technologies, a smaller but equally adept service bureau based in Belton, Texas. While the terms of the Harvest deal have not been disclosed, Stratasys stated the new firms will form a conglomerate with Stratasys’ existing Red Eye service bureau to better meet customer demand for AM design solutions.
This most recent round of acquisitions seems to affirm financial firm UBS’ recent decision to label Stratasys as a ‘buy’, as both service bureaus will only increase the Stratasys’ profitability by diversifying its clientele.
With both bureaus capable of manufacturing via laser sintering, SLS and SLA, their acquisition might offer Stratasys greater insight into the people and technologies of this still evolving industry. While I’m sure Stratasys’ FDM and PolyJet technologies will be leveraged to good effect, having an arm of the company that can serve an AM customer’s every need can only help their larger business plan.
Images Courtesy of Stratasys