An investor of Stratasys Ltd. is urging the 3D-printer maker to terminate its acquisition of Desktop Metal Inc. as the buyer has received unsolicited takeover offers.
(Bloomberg) — An investor of Stratasys Ltd. is urging the 3D-printer maker to terminate its acquisition of Desktop Metal Inc. as the buyer has received unsolicited takeover offers.
The Donerail Group, which says it’s a large shareholder of Stratasys, said the board’s unwillingness to engage with suitors introduced “heightened” concern over the company’s governance and strategic direction, according to a letter on Thursday. The investor owns about 2.3% of the company, the letter showed.
A representative for Stratasys didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
Stratasys announced a $1.8 billion all-stock deal for Desktop Metal last month and has also received unsolicited takeover offers from Nano Dimension Ltd. and 3D Systems Corp.
3D Systems submitted a revised cash-and-stock offer on Tuesday after its original bid was deemed not superior to the Desktop Metal deal. Nano Dimension’s revised $20.05-a-share partial tender offer from Tuesday is under review by Stratasys’ board. Its original offer was for $18 a share.
“We do not believe that the board can reject the obvious any longer: a 3D Systems transaction is significantly more compelling than the current alternatives and warrants immediate engagement,” Donerail Managing Partner William Wyatt said in the letter.
Stratasys rose 2% to close at $17.95 in New York trading on Thursday, giving the company a market value of about $1.2 billion. Its shares have risen 26% since the Desktop Metal deal was announced in late May.
(Updates with Donerail’s ownership in second paragraph. An earlier version of this story was corrected to state that Donerail is a large investor in Stratasys, not the largest.)
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