Stratasys Advances Its Growth Strategy to Lead Industrial Polymer Additive Manufacturing

EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. & REHOVOT, Israel & UTRECHT, Netherlands/May 12, 2022– Stratasys Ltd. announced that its subsidiary MakerBot has entered into a definitive business combination agreement with NPM Capital-backed Ultimaker to form a new entity.

The new combined company is intended to offer a comprehensive solution set of hardware, software and materials, creating a leading force in Desktop 3D printing. Under the terms of the agreement, NPM Capital plans to contribute Ultimaker’s assets, invest $15.4 million, and own 54.4% of the combined company, while Stratasys will contribute MakerBot’s assets, invest $47 million, and own 45.6% of the combined company (all subject to adjustments in the definitive documentation). The combined $62.4 million of committed financial backing is intended to fuel ecosystem innovation and expand customer reach and applications. The new company will be led by Nadav Goshen, current MakerBot CEO, and Jürgen von Hollen, current Ultimaker CEO, who will act as Co-CEOs, with Nadav managing product, operations and R&D and Jürgen managing the commercial functions. The entity is expected to maintain its headquarters in both The Netherlands and New York City.

“By combining the strengths of MakerBot and Ultimaker, the new entity will have a broad technology offering, be sufficient in scale, well capitalized and have a focused leadership team to better compete in the highly attractive Desktop 3D printing sector,” said Dr. Yoav Zeif, CEO of Stratasys. “Today’s announcement is consistent with our strategy to focus on industrial and production scale polymer-based additive manufacturing solutions. This transaction is designed to benefit our shareholders by enabling them to own two leading companies with best-in-class technology and focused management teams that will be able to successfully deliver solutions to customers in two highly attractive but different areas of the 3D printing market.”

Upon closing, the transaction is not expected to have a material impact on Stratasys’ revenue and is expected to be immediately accretive. As Stratasys will own less than 50% of the new entity, Stratasys will not consolidate it. The transaction is subject to consultation with appropriate employee representative bodies and the receipt of regulatory approvals, and satisfaction of other customary closing conditions, as a result of which a definitive time frame for closing is not yet available, with closing currently expected over the course of the second or third quarters of 2022.

Stifel Financial is acting as exclusive financial advisor and Meitar Law Offices and Cooley LLP as legal advisors to Stratasys. Lincoln International is acting as exclusive financial advisor and Allen & Overy as legal advisor to NPM Capital.