Stratasys and 3D Systems Each Announce Acquisitions

Major companies in the 3D Printing space saw increased attention Wednesday as a number of notable news items hit the sector earlier Wednesday. Two major mergers and acquisitions were announced earlier today one from Stratasys, Ltd. SSYS and another from 3D Systems Corporation DDD. Stratasys announced its acquisition of Harvest Tech and Solid Concepts. The firm said that it will pay up to $295 million for Solid Concepts and a price for Harvest Tech was not disclosed. Solid Concepts is one of the largest additive manufacturing service bureau in North America. 3D Systems announced its acquisition of Medical Modeling. Medical Modeling is a leading provider of personalized surgical treatments and patient specific medical devices, including virtual surgical planning and clinical transfer tools, using 3D modeling and printing that is rapidly changing how reconstructive surgery is done today. Many found it rather ironic that both of the fierce competitors announced acquisitions on the same day. In other news, Materialise issued an official release confirming its initial public offering or IPO in the United States. The firm is a leading provider of additive manufacturing software and of sophisticated 3D printing services. Some key figures have yet to be disclosed regarding the number of shares to be sold and the price range at which they will be sold.