Maple Plain Minn.-based prototype and digital manufacturing specialist Proto Labs Inc. will purchase Amsterdam-based 3D Hubs Inc., an e-commerce software company, for $280 million.
The deal is expected to close by the end of January.
Once 3D Hubs, which uses software to match customers’ needs with manufacturing partners, is integrated with Proto Labs, customers “will have access to the broadest set of manufacturing capabilities, pricing, and lead-time options, all delivered through digitally enabled e-commerce model,” a Jan. 19 news release said,
“The addition of 3D Hubs provides Proto Labs a platform to evolve our service model to provide unprecedented manufacturing flexibility to our customers,” Rob Bodor said in the release. Bodor currently is Proto Labs’ vice president and general manager of the Americas, and is set to take over as president and CEO.
“Our combined organizations will provide the market an industry-leading digital manufacturing solution to serve their needs from idea to prototype to full end-use part production,” Bodor added. “Together we can fulfill nearly every custom manufacturing need across the product life cycle.”
Under the terms of the deal, the $280 million will be funded with $130 million in cash and $150 million in Proto Labs common stock, the release said.
“An additional $50 million of contingent consideration” will be paid, it said, “subject to performance-based targets” over two years after the deal closes, “funded with 50 percent cash and 50 percent Proto Labs common stock.”
The total acquisition of 3D Hubs will leave its network of manufacturing partners “as it is,” Will Martin, content marketing manager at Proto Labs told Plastics News in an email.
“In the near term both companies will operate independently,” Martin said. “As we work through our integration plans we will ensure both companies customers are served in a manner that best suits their location and needs.”
Proto Labs is No. 59 in the most recent Plastics News ranking of North American injection molders with $155 million in estimated molding sales in the region.
“At 3D Hubs, our goal is to empower companies to create revolutionary products through supply chain efficiency and reliability,” Bram de Zwart, co-founder and CEO of 3D Hubs said in the release. “We are confident that partnering with Proto Labs will help us advance that mission.”
“The acquisition of 3D Hubs is part of the continued evolution of Proto Labs as the digital manufacturing leader, serving more and more of our customers’ needs,” Vicki Holt, Proto Labs’ CEO, who will retire in March, said in the release. “Proto Labs’ leading in-house technology-enabled manufacturing services combined with 3D Hubs’ global network of premium manufacturing partners will yield the greatest value to our customers for years to come.”
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