AM Investment Strategies Profile: FATHOM

Among the firms that will be participating in the SmarTech – Stifel AM Investment Strategies 2021 summit on September 9, 2021 is FATHOM, whose CEO Ryan Martin will be involved in our first panel of the day.  FATHOM has generated a great deal of excitement both before and after it announced a SPAC merger to list on the New York Stock Exchange.

It began as an exclusive reseller of Objet PolyJet 3D printers in 2008 before launching into 3D printing services. Once Objet and Stratasys merged in 2012, it began selling both PolyJet and fused deposition modeling (FDM) machines and expanded its service offerings. As new technologies came to market, such as Nano Dimension’s printed circuit board 3D printers and Desktop Metal’s systems, FATHOM sold those as well.

Fathom Manufacturing Facility at Hartland, Wis. Headquarters. Image courtesy of Fathom.

By 2019, FATHOM was enough of a prize that it was purchased by Chicago-based private equity fund CORE Industrial Partners. Combined with a previous CORE acquisition, Midwest Composite Technologies, the new FATHOM business represented one of largest privately-held digital manufacturing service providers in North America. Under CORE, it has continued to grow, acquiring metal 3D printing bureau GPI. It generated some $149 million in 2020 and continues to grow.

Now, FATHOM offers a broad range of manufacturing services, including additive technologies like FDM, selective laser sintering and multi jet fusion, as well as non-additive processes, such as injection molding, CNC, and urethane casting. These are paired with offerings in design and engineering services, as well as post-processing. It boasts more than 90 large-format 3D printers and roughly 450,000 square feet of manufacturing capacity across its 12 facilities in the U.S. To manage all of this, FATHOM has developed proprietary software that enables it to run its plastic and metal 3D printing technology in a seamless fashion.

Fathom Manufacturing CEO Ryan Martin at the company’s headquarters in Hartland. Image courtesy of Fathom Manufacturing.

In July, the firm announced that it would merge with blank-check special acquisition company Altimar Acquisition Corp. II. The deal is expected to close in Q4 of 2021 with an enterprise value of $1.5 billion and a listing on the NYSE under the symbol “FDMG”. With over $420 million in net proceeds, including by $80 million fully committed common stock private investment in public equity, the publicly traded entity will then expand its on-demand digital manufacturing platform via a series of planned acquisitions. While its senior management will remain intact, its board will take on former executives from such large manufacturers as General Electric, 3M, Ingersoll Rand, and Chrysler. Stifel and J.P. Morgan Securities will act as joint financial advisors.

FATHOM CEO Ryan Martin will be speaking with other industry experts at the SmarTech – Stifel AM Investment Strategies 2021 summit on September 9, 2021. He’ll be able to situate his firm amid the flurry of SPAC mergers, IPOs, and acquisitions currently under way.