This PRO article was originally published in July 2022 and is being re-shared here as Markforged has completed its acquisition of Digital Metal.
It’s been a few months since the additive manufacturing (AM) industry had a notable corporate acquisition, which seems like an eternity after all the competitive consolidation and shakeup we saw throughout 2020 and much of 2021. That was, up until two weeks ago, when Markforged announced its intent to acquire Digital Metal, a subsidiary of Höganäs AB that develops and sells metal binder jetting technology. Unlike its closest competitor, Desktop Metal, Markforged has been relatively reserved in terms of M&A activity since going public almost two years ago. However, the purchase of Digital Metal is probably one of the least surprising moves the industry has seen in a decade.