To consolidate the leading position in 3D printing mass production, Desktop Metal acquires ExOne

When Desktop Metal launched the metal binder spraying process, the judgment of the domestic market was mainly focused on two aspects. One is the binder spraying metal.3D printingThe process does not sound new. Some companies on the market have already had similar technologies many years ago; the second is that the metal powder is bonded together by a binder, and further sintering work is needed to remove the binder. With these chemical components, the market has doubts about the deformation (shrinkage) of the technology on the product and the density of the parts.

However, Desktop Metal has made continuous technological breakthroughs on the one hand, including its deformation-controlling simulation software and the development of more materials suitable for BJT technology (such as aluminum alloys and titanium alloys) in addition to stainless steel; on the other hand, with its rapid financing The financial means of successful backdoor listing in a way and quickly dilutes the market’s doubts about its development prospects. Today, Desktop Metal has made steadily progress in acquisitions. After acquiring EnvisionTEC, Desktop Metal will acquire ExOne. In this issue, 3D Science Valley and Gu You will come to appreciate how Desktop Metal has used its acquisition strategy on the road of corporate development.

© Desktop Metal

Combination of technology and experience

According to the market understanding of 3D Science Valley, Desktop Metal, Inc. (NYSE: DM) and ExOne (NASDAQ: XONE) have reached a final agreement under which Desktop Metal will acquire ExOne General All issued and outstanding shares of shares.

© Desktop Metal

According to the terms of the agreement, ExOne ordinary shares will receive US$8.50 in cash and US$17.00 in Desktop Metal ordinary shares. The total consideration is US$25.50 per share, and the transaction value is US$575 million, which means that it is more than ExOne’s closing of ordinary shares on August 11, 2021. A price premium of 47.6% and a premium of 43.9% based on the 30-day average closing price of ExOne common stock. The transaction value also means that ExOne’s acquisition multiple is 6.4 times the estimated consensus revenue in 2021.

Combination of technology and market application experience

As more and more companies turn to additive manufacturing, additive manufacturing solutions can meet all the requirements of these companies in terms of speed, cost, resolution, and part size.In the view of 3D Science Valley, Desktop Metal’s acquisition of ExOne has passed Exone’s BJT metal injection for many years.3D printingExperience complements application solutions to expand Desktop Metal’s product platform to create a comprehensive product and service portfolio that combines throughput, flexibility and material breadth, while allowing its customers to optimize production according to their specific application needs.

© Desktop Metal

In addition, by combining ExOne’s direct sales team with Desktop Metal’s global distribution network of more than 200 channel partners, the combined company will provide companies of all sizes with a wider range of additive manufacturing solutions, while providing more Many material innovations provide customers with more choices and promote new application discovery.

According to the terms of the agreement, when the transaction is completed, ExOne shareholders will receive a total consideration of US$575 million, including a cash consideration of US$192 million and a share consideration of US$383 million in Desktop Metal common stock.

© Desktop Metal

However, if the 20-day volume weighted average price (VWAP) of Desktop Metal in the 3 days before the market close is between $7.94 and $9.70, the stock consideration will be adjusted accordingly. If the 20-day VWAP exceeds the upper limit of the range, the conversion ratio will be fixed at 1.7522 per share, and if the 20-day VWAP is below the lower limit of the range, the conversion ratio will be fixed at 2.1416 per share. It is expected that the final number of Desktop Metal shares to be issued on a fully diluted basis will be between approximately 39.5 million and 48.3 million shares at the close of trading. After the transaction is completed, the existing shareholders of Desktop Metal will hold 85% to 88% of the shares, and the existing shareholders of ExOne are expected to hold 12% to 15% of the combined company.

Acquisition layout on the eve of the technological explosion

Previously, according to the judgment of CONTEXT, a global strategic partner in 3D Science Valley market research, as Desktop Metal, HP and other companies joined ExOne and Digital Metal to advocate for the injection of binders for the mass production of metal parts, this Technology is expected to make significant progress in 2021. According to the judgment of AMPower, a global strategic partner in 3D Science Valley market research, by 2025, AMPOWER expects that the market share of powder bed systems will decrease, such as binder jetting in metals (BJT) and plastic printing (DLP). Technology will rise.

From this, it can be said that Desktop Metal has established its place in the fast-growing future market in the DLP field through the early acquisition of EnvisionTEC, and through the acquisition of ExOne, it has obtained a new accelerator for its rapid development in the field of BJT technology applications.

© Desktop Metal

According to the market observation of 3D Science Valley, ExOne sprays metal in the binder3D printingIn terms of accumulation, it can be said that just recently, Ford also looked forward to the industrial prospects of large-scale aluminum parts manufacturing through ExOne equipment. Ford’s challenging metal powder for binder injection and sintering is aluminum 6061. This development is the result of a collaboration between Ford engineers and materials scientists and ExOne, a supplier of binder injection technology.And the successful application of aluminum to auto parts3D printingThe significance of production is significant: from traditional manufacturing processes to3D printingThe process change will reduce weight, save space, improve part performance, and save cost and time by simplifying the design.

According to Ford, LPBF’s powder bed-based selective laser melting process can produce lightweight parts for the automotive industry, but the selective laser melting process requires supporting structures and subsequent steps to remove these structures. This may not be a problem for the small-scale aerospace industry, but for the automotive industry, it poses a real challenge, which makes manufacturing very inefficient.

Compared with other metal 3D printing options, BJT-Binder Jet is generally a more productive metal AM additive manufacturing process compared to the LPBF powder bed-based selective laser melting process.

However, it was previously impossible to use aluminum for binder spraying, but Ford and ExOne pioneered a process of binder spraying aluminum 6061, which opened up the application space in the automotive manufacturing field. ExOne announced in March 2021 that it has successfully started using binder jet printing and sintering 6061 aluminum. Through the combination of binder jet printing and continuous sintering, 99% of high-density aluminum alloy parts can be manufactured, breaking through the traditional Material properties and the realization of strict geometric control are a breakthrough in decades.

According to 3D Science Valley’s market observations, Desktop Metal itself is also developing aluminum3D printing, Desktop Metal and Uniformity Labs have developed a completely dense and sinterable 6061 aluminum material for the Desktop Metal production system.This material will be used exclusively in Desktop Metal’s binder jetting technology and is described by the partner as3D printingThe “breakthrough” of aluminum alloy has a wide range of applications for the more economical manufacturing market.

According to the market understanding of 3D Science Valley, a few years ago, Desktop Metal and Uniformity Labs joined forces to develop a low-cost raw material that can produce fully dense sinterable 6061 aluminum with an elongation greater than 10% , Has a higher yield strength and ultimate tensile strength. This is the resultant material is a “significant improvement” to the existing aluminum sintering technology, which requires coating powder particles, mixing sintering aids into the powder, using binders containing expensive nanoparticles or adding lead and magnesium And other metals. This 6061 aluminum material is compatible with water-based adhesives, and the safety of aluminum powder with a higher minimum ignition energy than other commercially available 6061 aluminum powder has been improved.

With Desktop Metal’s technological breakthroughs in stainless steel, aluminum alloy, copper metal, titanium alloy and other materials, Desktop Metal’s technical advantages in the BJT field have been repeatedly established, and based on the market pioneer ExOne’s years of application experience, the combination of the two Will be3D printingWhat kind of changes and subversion the market brings, let us wait and see!

(Editor in charge: admin)