Business

3D Systems will sell Cimatron for $65 million as part of ongoing restructure

3D printer manufacturer 3D Systems has signed an agreement to sell its Cimatron business and related subsidiaries to global technology-focused investment firm Battery Ventures for $65 million.

Cimatron operates the Cimatron integrated CAD/CAM 3D printing software and GibbsCAM CNC programming software businesses, and will join the likes of CAD/CAM software provider SigmaTEK Systems in Battery Ventures’ manufacturing portfolio.

3D Systems has taken this step as part of the company’s previously announced restructuring plan, aimed to focus the company’s core strategic purpose as a leader in additive manufacturing and increase the firm’s profitability.

“Over the last several months, we’ve made significant progress in aligning our business to our core strengths to achieve growth,” said Jeffrey Graves, president and CEO of 3D Systems. “With this announcement, we continue to demonstrate our commitment to focus on additive manufacturing, creating value through solutions designed to address our customers’ unique application needs.”

Surgical marking guides are used to precisely guide drilling and cutting operations. Image via 3D Systems.
3D Systems is restructuring its business to focus on its healthcare and industrial verticals. Image via 3D Systems.

Restructuring and reorganizing

In August, Graves announced 3D Systems would be imminently restructured to focus on its healthcare and industrial verticals, and any segments not aligning with this new direction would be divested. The company is seeking to reduce its operating costs by $100 million, and will look to reduce its workforce by 20 percent as part of the plan to make the business profitable by next year.

Earlier this year the company announced an equity offering program to make $150 million worth of shares available for purchase. However, the anticipated sale of its Cimatron and GibbsCAM businesses has led to pausing this offering, as the firm has announced it now does not expect to issue shares of its common stock under the equity program. The firm will also evaluate the continued need for the at-the-market equity offering program, and may choose to terminate it.

At the time, Graves said: “In this organizational realignment, we have an opportunity to maximize efficiencies with a need to align our operating costs with current revenue levels. This reduction in force is a difficult but essential step in our ongoing strategic process, designed to better position the company for sustainable and profitable growth.”

3D Systems headquarters. Photo via 3D Systems.
3D Systems headquarters. Photo via 3D Systems.

Cimatron and GibbsCAM

3D Systems announced the acquisition of Israeli CAD/CAM company Cimatron in 2014, purchasing all the company’s outstanding shares for a total of $97 million. Cimatron is a major developer of 3D CAD/CAM software tools used to create 3D production molds, tools, and dies for end-use manufacturing.

In 2016, 3D Systems announced a major update to its Cimatron software, Version 13, which introduced new capabilities to significantly accelerate productivity whilst minimizing cost in the design and manufacturing of molds, dies and discrete parts. By 2018, Version 14 of the software featured segment design tools as well as ProgSim (Autoform) simulation for mold and die designers wanting to achieve rapid production.

Meanwhile, 3D Systems’ GibbsCAM is a single-interface CAM software for programming CNC machine tools. At EMO Hannover 2017, 3D Systems’ showcased Version 12 of the GibbsCAM software, with product marketing manager Chris McBain stating that the 15,000 “proven, error-free postprocessors” and innovative user interface could provide users of GibbsCAM 12 with a 30% increase in productivity over previous versions.

The following year, 3D Systems announced a further update to the software, GibbsCAM 13, which saw the addition of an enhanced G-code editor to improve the communication between software and CNC machining centers.

Fast-forwarding to the present, the sale of the businesses to Battery Ventures is expected to be completed during the fourth quarter of this year.

Cimatron 13 user interface. Image via 3D Systems.
Cimatron 13 user interface. Image via 3D Systems.

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Featured image shows 3D Systems headquarters. Photo via 3D Systems.