3D printing firm 3D Systems Corp. is selling its On Demand Manufacturing business to private equity firm Trilantic North America for $82 million.
The sale includes manufacturing plants in Lawrenceburg, Tenn.; Seattle; Le Mans, France; Pinerolo, Italy; and High Wycombe, England. New York-based Trilantic will rebrand the business as Quickparts.
The business being sold offers a variety of advanced and rapid manufacturing services, including additive and subtractive capabilities, officials with 3D in Rock Hill, S.C., said in a June 1 news release.
In January, 3D sold a software business for just over $64 million. Officials said that with that divestiture and the sale to Trilantic, the firm "can more effectively focus on its strategic purpose as the leader in enabling additive manufacturing solutions for applications in growing markets that demand high-reliability products."
3D Systems will continue its collaboration with Quickparts after the sale closes to support shared customers, they added. In the release, 3D Systems CEO Jeffrey Graves said that 3D's "sole reason" for selling the On demand manufacturing business "is to enable our entire focus and investment priorities to be on additive manufacturing, where we play a unique leadership role in enabling industrial-scale AM adoption across a range of exciting end markets."
"We are continuing to aggressively execute our four-phase plan that we announced a year ago, to position the company for exciting growth and profitability as the market for industrial-scale additive manufacturing continues to expand," he added.
On the acquisitions side, 3D in May acquired Philadelphia-based bioprinting firm Allevi Inc. and German software firm Additive Works GmbH. In February, the firm announced a $13 million expansion in Rock Hill to increase manufacturing and material development.
3D posted a loss of almost $150 million in 2020 as sales fell more than 12 percent to $557.2 million. The firm had lost almost $70 million in 2019.
Results were better for the first quarter of 2021, with sales up 8 percent vs. the same quarter in 2020 to $146.1 million. 3D showed a profit of $45.2 million for the quarter after losing almost $19 million in the year-ago period.
On Wall Street, 3D's per-share stock price has had a wild ride so far in 2021. It began the year near $11, peaked above $55 in early February, and was near $29 in early trading June 1.
Founded in 1986, 3D Systems is credited with bringing 3D printing to the manufacturing industry/sector through co-founder Chuck Hull's invention of stereolithography. The company now offers 3D printers, materials, software and services to customers in the health care and industrial markets.