3D Systems plans to sell its Geomagic 3D scanning software suite to Hexagon AB for $123 million as the additive manufacturing company looks to streamline its product offering and add more cash to its balance sheet.
Geomagic’s component products, including Design X, Control X, Freeform and Wrap, provide 3D scans of an object and reverse engineered CAD. This, among other use cases, provides quick additive capability to replace parts that don’t warrant bulk purchases and accompanying storage and maintenance costs.
3D Systems President and CEO Jeffrey Graves says the sale is part if his company’s efforts to focus on technologies that will make additive manufacturing more attractive to industrial users.
“By streamlining our software operations, focusing exclusively on our core platforms, and leveraging the exceptional capabilities that AI is now making available to us, we will be better positioned to support our customers’ most critical requirements as they move 3D printing into high-volume production environments,” Graves said. He added that the move will give 3D Systems a “fortified balance sheet,” a nod to the tough environment facing the industrial 3D printing space.
Through the first nine months of the year, 3D Systems has spent nearly half of its cash reserves on operations and restructuring, based on its Nov. 26 earnings report. The company had $190 million in cash at the end of September, $141 million less than when the year started. Following 2023’s slate of failed mergers, the market value of 3D printing companies have fallen sharply, putting a strong focus on future strategies and results.
While Hexagon AB’s roots lie in metrology systems, the company through its Hexagon Business Intelligence division also maintains a healthy suite of manufacturing-centric data-driven software products. Acquisition of the Geomagic software thus reflects both sides of the company and thus makes perfect sense for Hexagon.
“The combination of Geomagic and our existing solutions will further strengthen our market leadership in 3D metrology and reengineering, demonstrating our commitment to deliver increasingly user friendly tools capable of executing complex tasks…” says Norbert Hanke, Hexagon’s interim President and CEO.
Prior to the sale, the Geomagic software suite lay under the auspices of Oqton Industrial Manufacturing, a wholly-owned subsidiary of 3D Systems, that develops the Oqton Industrial Manufacturing OS, software used by companies like Baker Hughes to manage 3D printing within larger industrial data contexts.
Additive manufacturing companies across the sector continue to find challenging the expansion of 3D printing’s traditional manufacturing use cases, rapid prototyping and high mix/low yield production.
3D Systems and Hexagon expect to complete the acquisition deal in the first half of 2025, pursuant to standard regulatory approvals.
