Stratasys, a provider of end-to-end additive manufacturing (AM) solutions, announced the acquisition of the additive manufacturing material business of Covestro, a German producer of a variety of polyurethane and polycarbonate-based raw materials. 

The acquisition includes a portfolio of around 60 additive manufacturing materials,  an IP portfolio of hundreds of received and pending patents, R&D facilities and activities, and global development and sales teams across the US, Europe, and Asia.

Stratasys will be able to explore new applications in technological domains like stereolithography and powder bed fusion by leveraging the materials, IP portfolio, and talent it acquired from Covestro. These additions will also complement Stratasys’ existing capabilities in materials for PolyJet and fused deposition modeling (FDM) technologies.

The materials will be available through Stratasys and its global partners under Somos and Addigy brands.

Analyst QuickTake: This news comes just two weeks after Stratasys was offered to be acquired by Nano Dimension which was subsequently rejected by the company. Nano Dimension has offered a revised proposal to which Stratasys has not responded yet. Stratasys continues to grow its business inorganically demonstrated by this acquisition, as well as the acquisition of Riven in October last year to offer production-scale additive manufacturing. Stratasys also invested in Axial3D in November last year to expand its presence in the healthcare industry.