3D Printing Industry: Stratasys Acquired MakerBot: stakes, opportunities, market and actors in jun 2013

3D Printing

The 3D Printing Industry remains more or less embryonic, but leads passions, curiosities and investments under its economic potential it can drain. Therefore Stratasys Ltd, the leader
in 3D printing and additive manufacturing, wants to preserve and consolidate its portfolio. In this dynamic it has acquired MakerBot, the leader in desktop 3D printing.

This acquisition represents a definitive merger agreement whereby privately held MakerBot has agreed to merge with a subsidiary of Stratasys in a stock-for-stock transaction.

To understand this excitement, we can observe that, MakerBot has sold more than 22,000 3D printers since 2009. In the last nine months, the MakerBot Replicator 2 Desktop 3D Printer accounted for 11,000 of those sales.

‘’The combination of these two industry leaders is expected to drive faster adoption of 3D printing for multiple applications and industries, as desktop 3D printers are becoming a mainstream tool across many market segments. Upon completion of the transaction, MakerBot will operate as a separate subsidiary of Stratasys, maintaining its own identity, products and go-to-market strategy. The merger enhances Stratasys' leadership position in the rapidly growing 3D printer market, by enabling Stratasys to offer affordable desktop 3D printers together with a seamless user experience. The merger is expected to be completed during the third quarter of 2013; and it is subject to regulatory approvals and other conditions customary for such transactions.’’ Noted, the press release.

The MakerBot 3D Ecosystem includes Thingiverse.com, the largest collection of downloadable digital designs for making physical objects, and which is empowered by a growing community of makers and creators. The MakerBot 3D Ecosystem also includes MakerWare software, MakerCare service, MakerBot Filament, the MakerBot Retail Store, the MakerBot 3D Photo Booth, and strategic partnerships with Autodesk, Adafruit, Nokia, OUYA, MoMA and Amazon. MakerBot recently announced it will further extend its 3D Ecosystem with the MakerBot Digitizer desktop 3D scanner.

Bre Pettis, CEO and co-founder of MakerBot, will continue to lead the company. Pettis is a leader in the 3D printing industry, with a mission to drive further adoption of the company's products.

"Bre Pettis and his team at MakerBot have built the strongest brand in the desktop 3D printer category by delivering an exceptional user experience. MakerBot has impressive products, and we believe that the company's strategy of making 3D printing accessible and affordable will continue to drive adoption. I am looking forward to working with Bre," said David Reis, Stratasys CEO.

Transaction Details

‘’Under the terms of the merger agreement, Stratasys will initially issue approximately 4.76 million shares in exchange for 100% of the outstanding capital stock of MakerBot. The proposed merger has an initial value of $403 million based on Stratasys' closing stock price of $84.60 as of June 19, 2013. MakerBot stakeholders also qualify for performance-based earn-outs that provide for the issue of up to an additional 2.38 million shares through the end of 2014. The proposed earn-out payments have an initial value of up to $201 million based on the Stratasys closing stock price as of June 19, 2013. Those payments, if earned, will be made in Stratasys shares or cash (in an amount reflecting the value of the Stratasys shares that would have otherwise been issued at the relevant earn out determination date), or a combination thereof, at Stratasys' discretion. The merger is expected to accelerate Stratasys' growth rate and be slightly dilutive to Non-GAAP earnings per share in 2013, and accretive to Stratasys' Non-GAAP earnings per share by the end of 2014.

Operating Structure

Stratasys intends for MakerBot to operate as a separate subsidiary, preserving its existing brand, management, as well as the spirit of collaboration it has built with its users and partners. Together with Stratasys, MakerBot will continue to innovate, expand its product offering, provide attentive service to its users and make more 3D printing content available through Thingiverse.com.

Upon completion of the merger, Stratasys and MakerBot will jointly develop and implement strategies for building on their complementary strengths, intellectual property and technical know-how, and other unique assets and capabilities. The opportunities could include accelerating MakerBot's reach by leveraging Stratasys' global infrastructure; cross-promotion of products into the installed base of the combined companies; and leveraging Stratasys' extensive know-how in Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM) to benefit MakerBot's product line.

MakerBot Overview

MakerBot is the leader in desktop 3D printing. Use of desktop 3D printers that provide affordable 3D printing access to individuals is growing rapidly. The merger will allow Stratasys to offer more accessible desktop 3D printers to meet customer demand and accelerate that growth.

MakerBot reports that during the first quarter of 2013, the company generated $11.5 million in total revenue, compared to $15.7 million for all of 2012. Thingiverse.com, MakerBot's online content portal for the sharing of user-generated digital design content, has more than 90,000 3D product files available for sharing, and generates more than 500,000 unique visitors and 1,000,000 downloads each month. The accessibility and ease-of-use of this 3D printing content helps promote system usage.

A majority of MakerBot's sales are via direct-to-consumer channels on the company's website. MakerBot also sells through distributors outside the U.S. and has the MakerBot store, the first-ever 3D printing retail store, which serves as both a desktop 3D printing demonstration site and brick-and-mortar sales location in New York City.

Desktop 3D Printing Overview

Desktop 3D printer usage among design and engineering professionals is growing rapidly. Stratasys and MakerBot estimate that between 35,000 to 40,000 desktop 3D printers were sold in 2012. This number is estimated to double in 2013, as prosumers increasingly adopt desktop 3D printers for a broad range of applications. Stratasys believes that the unique MakerBot user experience along with the affordability and accessibility of their products, materials and services will help to grow the rate of adoption for desktop 3D printers’’.