September 28, 2023 – Stratasys shareholders will vote on the merger with Desktop Metal

The last three months have been marked by great confusion related to attempts to take over Stratasys by Nano Dimension and 3D Systems. This multi-threaded and complicated soap opera from the very top of the global 3D printing industry began with Stratasys announcing its intention to take over another company – Desktop Metal, which made the two above-mentioned companies decide to prevent this from happening. Ultimately, Nano Dimension withdrew from this idea at the end of July this year, and talks with 3D Systems – which had already announced that the merger with Stratasys would take place in the first week of August – stalled. All this time, Stratasys has been tirelessly proclaiming that only a merger with Desktop Metal makes sense for it and now it intends to make another contribution to this plan. The company’s shareholders are expected to take a final vote on the matter next month.

An “Extraordinary General Meeting” of shareholders will be held on Thursday, September 28, 2023. During the meeting, they will vote on the approval of selected matters related to the Stratasys and Desktop Metal merger agreement. In a filing with the SEC, Stratasys CEO Yoav Zeif and Desktop Metal CEO Ric Fulop wrote: “We cannot complete the merger until shareholders … approve the proposed Desktop merger agreement Metal (…) from Stratasys. Your vote on all matters that will be considered at the special meeting (…) is very important, regardless of the number of shares you hold.”

This announcement was made following the latest round of discussions with 3D Systems to determine whether the company’s July 13, 2023 proposal constituted a “better proposal” to the Desktop Metal merger agreement? Stratasys claims that it has communicated to 3D Systems areas of concern regarding the transaction and merger of the companies based on the results of its due diligence. Stratasys also says it has told 3D Systems that the latest proposal itself is not a deal it would be willing to enter into. He did not state that 3D Systems’ offer was better than the merger with Desktop Metal, but he would continue talks.

However, all these ideas and plans may fail anyway… On August 18, 2023, the Antitrust Division of the United States Department of Justice sent a request to Stratasys and Desktop Metal for additional information in connection with the pending merger agreement between the two companies. It was the so-called “second request”, which means that finalizing the transaction is prohibited until the companies provide comprehensive answers to all questions and doubts. The document states that the issuance of a second application extends the waiting period imposed by the statute to 30 days after Stratasys and Desktop Metal have substantially satisfied the requirements, unless the Department of Justice terminates the review period earlier.

As I described in an earlier article, if it turns out that the merger of Stratasys with Desktop Metal cannot be carried out for antitrust reasons, any further talks with 3D Systems will become practically pointless…

Source: www.sec.gov