Desktop Metal Inc. said today it will acquire one of its chief rivals in the 3D printing market for a hefty $575 million, shortly after posting its second-quarter results.

The company, which was founded in 2015 with a mission to create more affordable metal 3D printers, said the acquisition of ExOne Co. will give it greater scale and revenue in the additive manufacturing market segment.

Under the terms of the deal, ExOne shareholders will receive $8.50 in cash and $17 in Desktop Metal stock for each of their shares, for a total of $25.50 in cash and stock.

Desktop Metal is known primarily for its affordable 3D printing systems. It went public last year through a merger with a special-purpose acquisition company and lately has been expanding into healthcare and other sectors. The company has notably received a lot of funding – more than $710 million so far – and has been using that cash to fund a string of acquisitions in the last couple of years, among them Aerosint SA and Adaptive 3D Technologies LLC.

ExOne is a useful addition. It builds industrial 3D printers for use in industries such as aerospace, automotive, defense and medical. It has also created what it calls “portable 3D printing factories” which are really additive manufacturing stations squeezed into shipping containers that can be deployed anywhere.

In February ExOne received a $1.6 million grant from the U.S. Department of Defense to fund those portable systems, each of which has a computer, a 3D scanning station and a variety of ruggedized industrial machines including metal and ceramic printers, a curing oven, a fiber-reinforced plastic printer and a compression modeling station.

ExOne Chief Executive John Hartner told TechCrunch at the time the portable 3D printing factories have potential to disrupt supply chains and decentralize manufacturing, as well possible applications in emergency, humanitarian and frontline situations.

Desktop Metal said today’s acquisition will gain it more sales heads, technology and a distribution network of more than 200 channel partners.

“We believe this acquisition will provide customers with more choice as we leverage our complementary technologies and go-to-market efforts to drive continued growth,” said Desktop Metal CEO Ric Fulop. “This transaction is a big step in delivering on our vision of accelerating the adoption of additive manufacturing 2.0.”

For the quarter just gone, Desktop Metal reported a loss of 17 cents per share, though its revenue of $19 million rose 68% from a year ago. Wall Street had been looking for a loss of just a penny per share on $19 million in sales.

The company declined to provide guidance for the third quarter but said it’s updating its full-year guidance and now sees “over $100 million of revenue for 2021” with an annualized revenue run rate of $160 million.

Photo: Desktop Metal