Desktop Metal’s disastrous journey as a public company could come to an end before the 3-D printing company reaches the fourth anniversary of its stock market debut.
On Wednesday, Nano Dimension, an Israeli 3-D printing company with US headquarters in Waltham, agreed to buy Desktop Metal for as much as $183 million in cash, or $5.50 per share. The deal, which requires shareholder and regulatory approval, is expected to close in the fourth quarter.
The price represents a premium of 27 percent over Desktop Metal’s stock price of $4.32 a share at Tuesday’s close. Desktop Metal’s shares gained 21 percent to close at $5.24 on Wednesday.
If completed, the deal would also lock in a loss of at least 98 percent in stock value for Desktop Metal since February 2021, when the Burlington company’s share price peaked at more than $317 per share (after accounting for a 1-for-10 reverse stock split the company conducted in June to avoid being delisted by the New York Stock Exchange).
Desktop Metal went public in December 2020 by merging with a blank check company. But the company’s stock price plummeted as sales growth never met the projections touted in the merger with the special purpose acquisition company, a vehicle for companies to go public without taking the lengthier route of filing for an initial public offering.
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Though the SPAC deal forecast 2023 sales would reach $329 million, Desktop Metal generated only $190 million last year.
Nano can reduce the purchase price to as little as $135 million, or $4.07 per share, based on Desktop Metal’s expenses and whether Desktop needs to borrow more money from Nano to keep operating before the acquisition is completed.
The sale to Nano is Desktop Metal chief executive and cofounder Ric Fulop’s second effort to combine with a 3-D printing rival. The company tried to merge with 3-D printing company Stratasys in a $600 million deal last year that was rejected by Stratasys shareholders. Desktop Metal cut 20 percent of its workforce after that deal failed.
But the lower-priced Nano Dimension deal should work out because the two companies have complementary technology, Fulop said in a call with analysts. The two companies reported a combined $246 million in revenues last year.
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Desktop Metal’s technology “really dovetails very well with the portfolio that our friends at Nano Dimension have built,” Fulop said. “This is setting up a very interesting set of products that are fully complementary.”
Fulop started the company in 2015 with a group of MIT professors, including Ely Sachs, who invented the method known as binder jet printing, which sprays liquid onto layers of powder to form products. Starting with a printing system that could make metal replacement parts or prototypes in small batches, the company expanded to make large-scale printers that use a variety of materials.
Desktop Metal’s customers have included Toyota, Adidas, and Lockheed Martin.
Aaron Pressman can be reached at aaron.pressman@globe.com. Follow him @ampressman.