Desktop Metal is officially a publicly traded pure-play 3D printing company listed on the NYSE.
The intention was announced in August, as Desktop Metal introduced its merger with special purpose acquisition company Trine Acquisition Corp. That move was designed to lead to a bigger one: “DM” being listed on the NYSE.
“It’s a different way to do it. About one-third of companies going public in the last year have gone this way. If we weren’t in a pandemic, we may have done it the standard way [via IPO], but this was the best decision for us now. This is just a different approach to do it, and it’s worked out well for us,” Desktop Metal CEO Ric Fulop told me of the move.
That “different way to do it” was a means to the stock exchange, though, and is one that has come to fruition this week. As of December 10, 2020, the ticker symbol “DM” can be seen on the New York Stock Exchange.
“Today is an exciting moment and major milestone for our company and for the additive manufacturing(AM) industry at large. With a broad portfolio of solutions offering revolutionary ease-of-use and productivity for the AM industry, Desktop Metal is uniquely positioned to disrupt how parts are made across a wide range of industries,” Fulop said in the announcement.
“The capital raised through our transition to a publicly traded company will accelerate our global go-to-market efforts, enhance our relentless efforts in R&D, and allow us to capitalize on the tremendous growth opportunities we see over the next decade as we integrate industry-leading technology and intellectual property with strong secular growth trends around AM. We are excited to bring Desktop Metal to the public markets as the only pure play Additive Manufacturing 2.0 (AM 2.0) company and offer everyone the opportunity to invest in a company aiming to transform the manufacturing industry.”
That last point — Additive Manufacturing 2.0 — is an interesting one. Desktop Metal used this phrasing as well in their announced intent to go public. Ultimately, it’s an acknowledgement of next-generation AM geared toward production as this industry is at an inflection point of adoption. (It’s also, admittedly, easy to be “the only pure play AM 2.0 company” when it’s a phrase your team has coined, but the concept does have merit to it.)
The Desktop Metal x Trine transaction “was unanimously approved by the board of directors of Trine and was also approved at a special meeting of Trine’s stockholders on December 8,2020,” the announcement explains. They add:
“As a result of this transaction, Desktop Metal has received approximately $580 million of gross proceeds from Trine’s trust account and concurrent equity private placements.”
A big part of the rationale behind going public is growth.
“It’s something that gives us the ability to recruit talent, and gives us the ability to acquisitive if we need to, more currency to dedicate to our future. It gives us more of an ability to invest in organic growth and supercharge our capabilities,” Fulop told me in our earlier interview about the move to go public.
Desktop Metal is growing already, with portfolio expansions including hardware, software, and materials recently being announced. Shipments are set to start in Q4 2020 for the Production System P-1 with initial customer shipments and for the Fiber System with volume commercial shipments starting; the flagship Production System P-50 is planned to begin volume commercial shipments in H2 2021. Already shipping are the Shop System, which began global shipments already in Q4 2020, and the Studio System, which has been shipping since 2018.
As part of the deal with Trine, that company’s Chairman and CEO, Leo Hindrey, Jr.,joined the Desktop Metal Board of Directors. He says:
“Desktop Metal is poised to revolutionize the manufacturing industry by applying transformative AM 2.0 technologies to the products and industries that will drive the economy in the 21st century. The company has a distinct first-mover advantage over competitors and the injection of capital from this transaction, a large portion of which will be dedicated to continuous product innovation, will protect and extend this first-mover advantage.”
All in all, it’s great to see another 3D printing company go public — rather refreshing to see another CEO from this industry ringing the NYSE bell!
Via Desktop Metal
