Mixed feelings about additive manufacturing business acquisitions

While there are some positives, The Additive Report writer Kip Hanson contends that business acquisitions within the additive manufacturing industry can mostly stifle 3D printing innovation. Getty Images

3D Systems buys Z Corp. Stratasys buys MakerBot. General Electric buys Arcam and Concept Laser. These are just a few of the many headlines in recent years about one 3D printer manufacturer eating up a smaller manufacturer, usually one with a competing—often patented—technology.

Nothing against these companies, but I’m no fan of acquisitions. To me, it seems like a shortcut—a shortcut to innovation, a shortcut to market share. And I’m especially leery of big investment firms that have no skin in the manufacturing game and are only looking to make a quick buck. It’s opportunistic.

One might argue this is jealousy talking, knowing that no one will ever acquire my little one-man writing operation and turn me and my family into instant gazillionaires. (Sorry, Honey.) When I die, the words die with me. Nothing worthy of investment here.

In fact, that’s exactly what I told one such individual on LinkedIn recently, an investor looking for “strategic partnerships as well as acquisition opportunities.”

Sorry, buddy. It’s just words.

Consider this: Where would the automotive world be had Henry Ford sold his fledgling company to General Motors, an event that history indicates nearly occurred? Imagine, no Model A, or for that matter, no F-150. And neither the Mercury nor the Edsel would have existed.

Call me naïve, but it would have been a loss if GM had bought Ford.

Now consider if Charles Hull had sold out to Stratasys, or vice-versa? Or if GE’s bid to acquire SLM Solutions rather than Concept laser had been successful? The list of what-ifs is a long one.

I know this is the way business works. It’s a dog-eat-dog world, after all, and I’m sure that I would take similar advantage or avail myself of such market-driven and technical opportunities were the shoe on the other foot.

And there is some good that comes from acquisitions. The acquired companies—assuming they are not dissolved—have more working capital with which to expand operations and improve their technology. And from the customer side, working with a large company generally means better support and additional product options.

Some might argue that acquisitions lead to increased competitiveness, that working capital is the true mother of invention. I guess we’ll never know.

In the meantime, anyone looking to acquire a writing business?