General Electric to Acquire Germany's Concept Laser For $599 Million -- Update
October 27 2016 - 3:13AM
Dow Jones News
By Sarah Sloat
FRANKFURT--General Electric Co. said on Thursday it would pay
$599 million for a 75% stake in Concept Laser GmbH, after its plan
to acquire another German 3-D printing company fell through earlier
this week.
The deal leaves open the possibility of GE taking full ownership
of Concept Laser at a later date.
Concept Laser specializes in metal additive manufacturing, also
known as 3-D metal printing. The privately held company has more
than 200 employees and its customers are concentrated in the
aerospace, medical and dental industries.
The announcement comes a day after GE said its offer to buy
Germany's SLM Solutions Group AG fell through, GE having failed to
reach the 75% threshold for the deal to go forward. SLM is also
active in 3-D printing.
GE has invested roughly $1.5 billion in manufacturing and
additive technologies at its global research center and is
developing additive applications across businesses, it said. GE
plans to "invest significantly" in Concept's Lichtenfels location,
which will become a new German center for GE, the company said.
The U.S. industrial giant's offer for SLM fell apart after a
fund belonging to Elliott Management Corp. last week said it
opposed the deal and held more than 20% of SLM, creating a
significant stumbling block.
GE's bid for SLM was part of a planned $1.4 billion push into
3-D printing in Europe. GE also bid about $700 million for Sweden's
Arcam AB, another company active in additive-manufacturing
technology.
A deal for Arcam also is in jeopardy. Elliott has taken a 10.14%
stake in the Swedish company. If Elliott opposes a tie-up, its
holdings would make it unlikely GE could meet the threshold of at
least 90% of shareholders accepting a deal. Elliott was founded by
famed stock picker Paul Singer.
Write to Sarah Sloat at sarah.sloat@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
October 27, 2016 02:58 ET (06:58 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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