BASF acquiring 3D printing service provider Sculpteo

BASF SE is acquiring Sculpteo, a service provider in the additive manufacturing sector, as part of a bid to improve its position within the 3D printing segment.
 
The German company’s investment arm, BASF New Business GmbH formally agreed to acquire the online 3D printing service provider on Nov. 14 and expects the deal to become effective “in the next few weeks” pending regulatory approval by the relevant authorities. 
 
The acquisition of the French 3D printing specialist, with offices in Paris and San Francisco, will enable BASF 3D Printing Solutions GmbH to market and establish new industrial 3D printing materials more quickly, BASF said in a Nov. 18 statement. 
 
Post-acquisition, Sculpteo’s management team, including CEO Clément Moreau, will remain in place to provide customers and partners with the expanded service spectrum.
 
Sculpteo has operated, for the past 10 years, an online platform with integrated production for the manufacturing of prototypes, individual objects, and serial production components with a range of different additive manufacturing technologies.
 
BASF said it would develop the existing Sculpteo 3D printing platform further into a global network.
 
"Through the acquisition of Sculpteo, we can provide customers and partners with even faster access to our innovative 3D printing solutions. In addition, our customers will benefit from an extended range of services, ” Dietmar Bender, managing director BASF 3D Printing Solutions, said. 
 
The move, according to Bender, aims to establish additive manufacturing “as a proven technology for industrial mass production."
 
For its part, Sculpteo will gain access to a more extensive portfolio of 3D printing materials through the acquisition.
 
"We are excited to join the BASF team and thus benefit from BASF’s outstanding R&D to provide our customers with innovative solutions,” lément Moreau, CEO and co-founder of Sculpteo, said.