- Stratasys to Benefit from GrabCAD’s Industry-Leading Software Engineering Team and Cloud-Based Collaboration Platform
- Transaction Increases Collaboration and Accessibility of 3D CAD Files, Further Accelerating Adoption of 3D Printing
MINNEAPOLIS & REHOVOT, Israel – September 16, 2014 – Stratasys Ltd. (NASDAQ: SSYS), a leading global provider of 3D printing and additive manufacturing solutions, today announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire privately-held GrabCAD, Inc. in an all-cash transaction. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. The transaction is expected to be completed by the end of September, subject to the fulfillment of customary closing conditions. Upon completion of the transaction, GrabCAD will operate as a unit within the Stratasys Global Products and Technology Group. Hardi Meybaum, Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of GrabCAD, will continue to lead GrabCAD within the group.
Founded in 2010 and led by Mr. Meybaum, a visionary entrepreneur and pioneer in 3D CAD cloud collaboration tools, GrabCAD is helping engineers get products to market faster by connecting people, content and technology. GrabCAD offers GrabCAD Workbench, a cloud-based collaboration tool that enables engineers and designers to share, view and manage CAD files and other design data. GrabCAD is also home to a community of more than 1.5 million members from around the world who can access a large public CAD file library as well as connect with other engineers.
The acquisition is expected to enable Stratasys to provide its customers with enhanced collaboration tools and improved accessibility relating to 3D CAD content. The addition of GrabCAD Workbench provides Stratasys with an opportunity to drive communication and ease of use throughout the 3D printing process and grow its technology solutions and user communities.
“The addition of GrabCAD provides Stratasys with a leading cloud-based collaboration platform for engineering teams to manage, share and view CAD files,” said David Reis, Stratasys Chief Executive Officer. “By increasing the collaboration and accessibility of 3D CAD files, we believe we can further accelerate the adoption of 3D printing solutions and Stratasys’ product offerings. Together with GrabCAD, we believe that we will accelerate innovation and provide increased value to a growing universe of customers seeking to utilize 3D printing solutions. We also welcome GrabCAD’s active and important community to the Stratasys family. The potential within our 3D ecosystem is very exciting.”
“GrabCAD was founded to bring the world’s engineers together and help them collaborate to bring better products to market faster,” said Hardi Meybaum, Chief Executive Officer of GrabCAD. “By joining forces with Stratasys, a global leader in 3D printing and additive manufacturing, we believe we can extend the reach of one of the most exciting and innovative design collaboration technologies available. With its broad and growing customer base and worldwide presence, Stratasys can provide more customers around the world with exciting new solutions to meet their design needs.”
Benefits of the Transaction
Through its acquisition of GrabCAD, Stratasys expects to gain:
- Knowledge: With the addition of GrabCAD, Stratasys gains an industry leading team of software professionals with a deep understanding of the needs of designers and engineers.
- Products: GrabCAD’s cloud-based collaboration platform, Workbench, will enable Stratasys to offer customers a solution to drive communication and ease of use throughout the design and 3D printing process. GrabCAD also provides Stratasys with the opportunity to further partner with CAD vendors and other ecosystem partners while offering innovative collaboration tools related to 3D CAD.
- Community: GrabCAD has built a global, leading and fast growing community of mechanical engineers and designers, with 1.5 million users who are passionate about design. This includes a large online community of M-CAD users and a significant public online repository of free CAD files, with more than 500,000 CAD designs available for download and nearly 50,000 file downloads per day.
About Stratasys
Stratasys Ltd. (Nasdaq:SSYS), headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota and Rehovot, Israel, is a leading global provider of 3D printing and additive and additive manufacturing solutions. The company’s patented FDM®, PolyJet™ and WDM™ 3D Printing technologies produce prototypes and manufactured goods directly from 3D CAD files or other 3D content. Systems include 3D printers for idea development, prototyping and direct digital manufacturing.
Stratasys subsidiaries include MakerBot and Solidscape, and the company operates a digital-manufacturing service comprising RedEye, Harvest Technologies and Solid Concepts. Stratasys has 26 regional offices, four manufacturing locations, more than 2,500 employees, more than 260 resellers, holds over 600 granted or pending additive manufacturing patents globally, and has received more than 25 awards for its technology and leadership. Online at: www.stratasys.com or http://blog.stratasys.com.
About GrabCAD
GrabCAD is leading the Open Engineering movement, helping engineers get products to market faster by connecting people, content and technology. GrabCAD Workbench makes it easy for engineers to share files, work with partners and complete projects on time, while the GrabCAD Community accelerates the design process by tapping into the knowledge and resources of the largest source of CAD content and engineering minds in the world. Founded in 2010, the company is backed by Matrix Partners and Charles River Ventures and is headquartered in Boston, MA with development offices in Estonia and the UK.
Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
The statements in this press release relating to Stratasys’ expectations of the benefits that it and its customers will receive from its acquisition of GrabCAD are forward-looking statements reflecting management’s current expectations and beliefs.
These forward-looking statements are based on current information that is, by its nature, subject to rapid and even abrupt change. Due to risks and uncertainties associated with Stratasys’ business, actual results could differ materially from those projected or implied by these forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to: the risk that the GrabCAD Workbench platform will not function as expected with company’s products due to unforeseen reasons; customers will not perceive the benefits provided by the GrabCAD Workbench platform and the GRABCAD Community to be as Stratasys believes them to be; the risk that the integration of GrabCAD and its platform into Stratasys and its products will be more difficult and time consuming than Stratasys expects; and other risk factors more fully explained under the caption “Risk Factors” in Stratasys’ most recent Annual Report on Form 20-F, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on March 3, 2014. Stratasys is under no obligation (and expressly disclaims any obligation) to update or alter its forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as otherwise required by the rules and regulations of the SEC.
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