CORE Industrial Partners (CORE), a Chicago-based private equity firm, has formed a new additive manufacturing platform and completed the acquisitions of 3DXTECH (3DXTECH), Triton 3D and Gearbox3D (Gearbox).
The company is a provider of additive manufacturing equipment, including 3D printers, materials, and services focusing on high-performance material extrusion technologies.
3DXTECH provides a broad array of high-performance 3D printing filament for open-source printers and printing services for production and prototype quantities. Triton offers Stratasys compatible 3D printing filament and related 3D printing accessories. Gearbox manufactures industrial-grade, open-source 3D printers utilising thermoplastic extrusion technology. Founded in 2014, the Company combines deep materials expertise, research and development capabilities, and a breadth of high-performance filaments to allow customers to optimise product design solutions. The Company serves a variety of end markets, including aerospace and defence, electronics, medical, automotive, consumer and industrials, among others.
Headquartered in Grand Rapids, Michigan, 3DXTECH, Triton and Gearbox operate from a state-of-the-art 68,000 sq ft facility with in-house capabilities, including filament extrusion, filament winding, custom formulation, research and development, 3D printer assembly and testing and 3D printing services for production and prototype quantities.
John May, Managing Partner of CORE, says: “The investments in 3DXTECH, Triton and Gearbox align with our strategy to build an additive manufacturing platform focused on 3D printing equipment and proprietary materials. We believe the tailwinds from the underlying additive manufacturing sector and broader Industry 4.0 trends, in concert with CORE’s experience and sector expertise, will put the Company in a strong position to capitalise on opportunities moving forward.”
TJ Chung, Senior Partner of CORE, says: “The Company is recognised as an innovative, high-growth platform with a broad range of filaments and a differentiated 3D printer offering. The Company’s ‘materials first’ approach and open-source model resonate with customers and provide a compelling value proposition in the high-performance additive manufacturing equipment and materials space.”
Matt Howlett, Co-founder of the Company, says: “On behalf of my partner Gary Foote, the employees at 3DXTECH, Triton and Gearbox, and me, we’re excited to begin this new chapter in partnership with CORE. We have demonstrated rapid growth since the Company’s founding by successfully pairing our materials expertise with our disruptive 3D printing equipment technology. With CORE’s expertise and resources in the additive manufacturing industry, we’ll be able to further accelerate our growth.”
Winston & Strawn LLP provided legal representation to CORE in the transaction. Burr & Forman LLP provided legal representation to the Company in the transaction.
