The end of the Stratasys takeover saga appears to be near.
There have been multiple developments over the past week in this ongoing takeover story. Earlier this year Stratays, one of the leaders in the 3D print industry and in fact one of the original companies in the space, has been peppered with takeover offers from Nano Dimension and 3D Systems.
These have all been rejected, except 3D Systems’ most recent offer. Both companies announced they were going to negotiate further over this offer, suggesting that it could be the way forward.
Meanwhile, Nano Dimension still had an offer for Stratasys in play, as well as a rather suspicious proposal to take over the board of Stratasys at their upcoming annual meeting.
Late last week a surprise announcement emerged from Nano Dimension withdrawing both their Stratasys shareholder offer and their sketchy board proposal. They say (typos replicated as they appear on Nano Dimension’s website):
“Stratasys Board ’s Refusal to Redeem Poison Pill W ill Block Nano’s Ability to Complete Special Tender Offer
Nano D oes N ot E xpect the C onditions of the S pecial T ender O ffer W ill be M et and D oes N ot I ntend to F urther E xtend the S pecial T ender O ffer P eriod
Nano Will Proceed w ith Alternative M&A Plans”
Reading through this announcement is quite startling, with blame being repeatedly pointed at Stratasys, which took reasonable steps to block Nano Dimension’s offer as they strongly felt there were better transactions that could take place. That is indeed the case as the 3D Systems offer would surely result in a far more powerful entity.
Nano Dimension CEO Yoav Stern wrote:
“Finally, replacing a majority of Stratasys’ entrenched board will not be achievable. Taking all this into account, we intend to ‘stand down’ on Stratasys. We shall continue with our alternative active M&A plans.”
This may also have something to do with several industry analysts recommending against Nano Dimension’s unusual board proposal.
Thus it seems to be the actual, final and true end of the Nano Dimension struggle for Stratasys.
Except I’ve written that several times before, so who knows what Nano Dimension will do next? Depending on what happens with the 3D Systems and Stratasys negotiations, we could possibly see the dead cat bounce here.
Meanwhile, I do expect to hear an announcement from Stratays and 3D Systems, possibly this week. If those two were to hook up, it would be by far the largest corporate transaction in 3D print history. Taking time to get it right would be advisable.
Via Nano Dimension
