Material supplier Covestro AG is selling its additive manufacturing materials business to additive manufacturing pioneer Stratasys Ltd. for approximately 43 million euros (USD43 million), said Canplastics.
The acquisition will include R&D facilities and activities; global development and sales teams across Europe, the U.S. and China; a portfolio of approximately 60 additive manufacturing materials; and extensive IP comprising hundreds of patents and patents pending.
Stratasys, which is based in Rehovot, Israel, is already a distributor of Covestro’s Somos resins and they are already available for Stratasys’ Neo and Origin One 3D printers.
“The acquisition of Covestro’s highly regarded Additive Manufacturing business positions us to further grow adoption of our newest technologies,” Stratasys CEO Yoav Zeif said in an Aug. 8 news release. “We will now have the ability to accelerate cutting-edge developments in 3D printing materials, and advance our strategy of providing the best and most complete polymer 3D printing portfolio in the industry.”
The deal is expected to close during the first quarter of 2023, and the majority of employees of Covestro’s additive manufacturing materials business will continue to be based at its sites in Geleen, Netherlands and Elgin, Ill.
As per MRC, Covestro is expanding its production capacities for thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) Films in the Platilon range, as well as the associated infrastructure and logistics and schedules to complete the new facilities as early as the end of 2023.
We remind that Covestro closed the sale of its European polycarbonates (PC) sheets business to the Munich-based Serafin Group effective January 2, 2020. This includes key management and sales functions throughout Europe as well as production sites in Belgium and Italy.
Covestro (formerly Bayer MaterialScience) is an independent subgroup within Bayer. It was created as part of the restructuring of Bayer AG from the former business group Bayer Polymers, with certain of its activities being spun off to Lanxess AG. Covestro manufactures and develops materials such as coatings, adhesives and sealants, polycarbonates (CDs, DVDs), polyurethanes (automotive seating, insulation for refrigerating appliances) etc. With 2021 sales of EUR 15.9 billion, Covestro has 50 production sites worldwide and employs approximately 17,900 people (calculated as full-time equivalents).
mrchub.com