Subsidiaries to be sold to investment firm affiliate.
Barely more than two years after Stratasys made a $1.8B bid for it and just a few weeks after Nano Dimension acquired it for a fraction of that price, Desktop Metal has filed for bankruptcy protection under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code.
According to a statement from Nano Dimension, Desktop Metal’s independent board of directors decided to file for bankruptcy due to the company’s “significant liabilities and liquidity needs stemming from decisions made by its prior management.”
According to Bloomberg, Desktop Metal will sell its European assets to help pay off its debts, including almost $30M owed to the law firm Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan for winning the lawsuit that compelled Nano Dimension to take ownership of the company.
Those European assets include previously acquired additive manufacturing (AM) companies ExOne, EnvisionTEC, and AIDRO, all of which will go to the investment firm, Anzu Partners, which also acquired voxeljet earlier this month.
After much speculation about the fate of the beleaguered metal AM company (including by yours truly), this looks like the end of what was once the darling of investors and 3D printing enthusiasts alike.
“We are safeguarding our financial strength and preserving our position as the best capitalized company in our ecosystem,” said Nano Dimension CEO Ofir Baharav in the company’s press release. “This is what enables the Company’s [sic] to pursue strategic opportunities from a position of maximum strength—and that is exactly what the Company’s shareholders should expect from us.”
No word yet on what this means for Nano Dimension’s other contentious acquisition.
