UPDATE: Stratasys to Purchase Harvest Technologies

Harvest Technologies, a Belton, Texas based additive manufacturing service bureau, announced today that it has entered into a definitive agreement for its acquisition by Stratasys

, a leading global provider of 3D printing and additive manufacturing solutions. In conjunction with its acquisition of Harvest Technologies, Stratasys also announced its acquisition of Solid Concepts Inc., the largest independent additive manufacturing service bureau in North America. The transactions are expected to be completed early in the upcoming third quarter, subject to customary closing conditions, and are expected to be accretive to Stratasys' Non-GAAP earnings per share within the first 12 months after closing. Upon completion of the transactions, Stratasys will combine Harvest Technologies and Solid Concepts with RedEye, Stratasys' existing digital manufacturing service business, to establish one additive manufacturing services business unit. Joe Allison, President of Solid Concepts, will join the Stratasys management team and lead the combined parts business, supported by the strong management teams of Solid Concepts, Harvest Technologies, and RedEye. Harvest Technologies and Solid Concepts are leading providers of additive manufacturing services. With the addition of Harvest Technologies and Solid Concepts, Stratasys is creating a leading strategic platform focused on meeting customers' additive manufacturing needs through an expanded technology and business offering. Harvest Technologies and Solid Concepts provide Stratasys with significant manufacturing and end-use parts production capabilities, infrastructure, capacity and process knowhow, which are expected to accelerate and enable further adoption of additive manufacturing. The combination of Solid Concepts' deep knowledge of manufacturing and vertical focus, such as medical and aerospace, and Harvest Technologies' experience in parts production, as well as materials and systems knowhow, together with RedEye, strengthens Stratasys' direct digital manufacturing and parts production expertise. Harvest Technologies, based in Belton, Texas, is a specialty additive manufacturing service bureau established in 1995, with approximately 80 employees. Harvest Technologies has deep manufacturing process knowhow and focuses on advanced end use parts applications. Harvest Technologies was the first additive manufacturing company in North America to become AS9100/ISO 9001 certified, and continues to produce end-use parts for multiple industries. Under the terms of the definitive agreement with Harvest Technologies, Stratasys will acquire Harvest Technologies for an undisclosed amount, including retention-related payments, payable in cash, shares or a combination thereof. "We are pleased to announce these strategic transactions, which will enable us to provide customers with a comprehensive offering that addresses a broad spectrum of additive manufacturing solutions," said Stratasys CEO David Reis. "With Harvest Technologies and Solid Concepts, together with RedEye, we expect to create a strategic platform to meet our customers' additive manufacturing requirements by significantly expanding our offering, targeting new applications, and strengthening our customer relationships. As our customers' requirements continue to expand, we must evolve to create full service offerings that provide a variety of technologies and custom manufacturing solutions and focus on high-end production applications. Harvest Technologies and Solid Concepts are industry pioneers and innovators in the additive manufacturing space." "We will apply our integration expertise to combine Harvest Technologies and Solid Concepts with our existing RedEye digital manufacturing service business to form a single business unit focused on additive manufacturing services," Mr. Reis continued. "Importantly, with our shared cultures of innovation and customer service, we believe this will be a smooth transition. We look forward to welcoming the talented teams of Harvest Technologies and Solid Concepts to Stratasys -- we are confident we have a very bright future together." David K. Leigh, President of Harvest Technologies, said, "We are delighted to join forces with Stratasys and Solid Concepts in a transaction that will enhance Harvest Technologies' leadership in producing end use parts using the most advanced additive manufacturing technologies and processes." About Stratasys Stratasys Ltd.

, headquartered in Minneapolis, Minn. and Rehovot, Israel, is a leading global provider of 3D printing and additive manufacturing solutions. The company's patented FDM® and PolyJet™ 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 the RedEye digital-manufacturing service. Stratasys has more than 1800 employees, holds over 550 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 Harvest Technologies Harvest Technologies was founded by David K. Leigh and, his father, David E. Leigh in 1995. Now with almost 20 years of experience in the additive manufacturing industry, Harvest Technologies runs a fleet of 40 laser sintering (LS/SLS), direct metal laser sintering (DMLS), fused deposition modeling (FDM), and stereolithography (SL/SLA) machines in a cutting-edge 40,000 sq. facility. It is Harvest Technologies' mission to provide top-quality parts and customer service, while continuing to build their reputation as the most valued partner and supplier in the prototype and direct digital manufacturing trades. Harvest Technologies is an AS9100C/ISO 9001:2008 certified supplier. For more information please visit http://www.harvest-tech.com. Add to Digg Bookmark with del.icio.us Add to Newsvine Contact: Lewis Simms 254.933.1000 Email Contact Source: Harvest Technologies