American billionaire Farhad “Fred” Ebrahimi and his wife Mary Wilkie Ebrahimi acquired 5.1% of shares in Stratasys – the largest company in the global 3D printing industry. The transaction value is USD 47 million. Ebrahimi, whose net worth is about $1.1 billion according to Forbes, also owns 15% of Desktop Metal, which Stratasys sought to acquire in the second half of last year.
Farhad Ebrahimi earned his fortune as co-owner and CEO of QuarkXPress, a company producing software for typesetting documents, books, newspapers and magazines. In 2006, he transferred all shares in the company to his children, who sold them in 2011 to the Platinum Equity investment fund. He himself started investing money in other companies. His more interesting investments include ViewRay – a company specializing in medical imaging, and First Solar – a leading manufacturer of solar panels in the world, with a market value of $20 billion.
Ebrahimi began purchasing Stratasys stock on November 29, 2023 and currently owns 3,549,961 individual shares of the company’s stock. The billionaire also purchased 592,500 Stratasys PUT options, the purchase obligation of which expires on January 17, 2025. In the report of Ebrahimi’s holding, he is described as the so-called investor-activist, however, the application indicates that the billionaire has no intention of implementing mergers and acquisitions, partial sale of assets or forcing changes in the company’s management board.
Ebrahimi’s recent investment activity in Stratasys adds to his current 15% stake in Desktop Metal. The billionaire investor first became interested in the company after announcing its pending merger with Stratasys in a deal worth $1.8 billion. After this news, Ebrahimi purchased approximately 7.43% of Desktop Metal shares and was a supporter of the company’s merger with Stratasys. However, the merger fell through in September 2023 after 78.6% of Stratasys shareholders voted against the deal.
Despite the failure of the merger, Ebrahimi showed continued interest in Desktop Metal, purchasing another $2.5 million worth of shares on October 19 last year. The 85-year-old investor also took out PUT (obligation to buy) options ranging from $2 to $5, above the market price. Desktop Metal’s current stock price is $0.63 per share. In total, the PUT options represent tens of millions of additional shares of the company. Most PUT options purchased through Trusts and LLCs expire in January and February 2024, with some options expiring in early 2025.
Source: www.sec.gov via www.3dprintingindustry.com