Quickparts Expands Manufacturing Capabilities with Xcentric Mold & Engineering Acquisition

The 3D printing industry is continuing a trend of consolidation amid broader economic turbulence. The latest news on that front is the acquisition of Xcentric Mold & Engineering by Quickparts, formerly a large portion of 3D Systems’ on-demand production services. The purchase will allow Quickparts to expand its manufacturing capabilities.

Quickparts Adds More CNC and Injection Molding

Xcentric was founded in Clinton Township, Michigan in 1996, growing to employ nearly 100 individuals and operate a 60,000-sq-ft production facility. The site boasts injection molding and CNC machining, which now complement Quickparts own breadth of services. These include a range of additive manufacturing (AM) and traditional technologies.

“We are thrilled to combine Xcentric’s leading digital manufacturing capabilities and injection molding expertise with Quickparts’ offerings to continue to bring speed and scale to the market,” said Xcentric CEO Matt McIntosh. “Trusted by industry leaders, Xcentric prides itself on a terrific culture of excellence and customer service, and we believe the Quickparts team is the right partner to support the continued growth of Xcentric’s capabilities.”

Xcentric’s manufacturing facilities. Image courtesy of Xcentric.

Because Quickparts already offers CNC and injection molding, this purchase may be more about expanding the company’s throughput, equipment, and labor power, with Michigan being reborn as a digital production hub. Service bureaus like Materialise and FATHOM have major locations in the state. With supply chains now being reorganized to, potentially, allow for distributed manufacturing to withstand disruptions, placing sites at strategic points across important markets may be key to delivering on-demand parts quickly.

Familiar Faces at Quickparts

Interestingly, as 3D Systems divested its 3D printing services business to private equity firm Trilantic North America, familiar faces took charge of Quickparts and its five European and U.S. sites. The new CEO, Ziad Abou, was formerly Senior Vice President and General Manager of Global Quickparts Solutions under 3D Systems. Thea board of directors also added Techniplas founder George Votis and Avi Reichental, the last of which was the CEO of 3D Systems when it originally purchased Quickparts in 2011.

“We are very pleased to welcome the Xcentric team to the Quickparts family,” said Ziad Abou, Chief Executive Officer of Quickparts. “As a combined company, we will offer an in-house, end-to-end solution from first prototype to short-run production. This acquisition is an important step as we continuously strive to advance Quickparts’ capabilities. With Xcentric, we will be able to offer a complete lifecycle solution that will be executed with even greater speed and certainty.”

Quickparts has since become a partner of Reichental’s 3D printer manufacturer Nexa3D and will use the firm’s new polymer powder bed fusion (PBF) system, the QLS 820, for its services. The machine is described by Nexa3D as being four times as fast as traditional polymer PBF 3D printers through the use of four lasers, rather than one or two.

Stifel’s Digital Manufacturing 18th Transaction Since 2021

Exclusive financial advisor to Xcentric on the deal was Stifel Investment Banking, which not only advised the firm on its sale to Riverside in 2017, but also guiding Trilantic on its purchase of Quickparts in 2021. The bank is playing a lead role in the consolidation activities for the AM industry, with this most recent deal representing Stifel’s 18^th transaction for the digital manufacturing since 2021 alone. Other deals include:

• Advisor to Xcentric on its sale to Quickparts, a Trilantic platform
• Advisor to GoProto on its sale to CORE Industrial Partners
• Advisor to Stratasys on merging their MakerBot subsidiary with Ultimaker, a NPM Capital platform
• Co-Adviser to The Halifax Group on its sale of a Majority Stake in TriMech
  to Sentinel Capital Partners
• Joint Financial Advisor to Fathom on their $1.5B merger with Altimar II
• Joint Placement Agent to Altimar II on their $70M PIPE to support the combination with Fathom
• Advisor to ExOne on its $601M sale to Desktop Metal
• Financial Advisor and Capital Markets Advisor to Markforged on its merger with one SPAC
• Advisor to Trilantic on its acquisition of Quickparts from 3D Systems
• Advisor to Shapeways on its $410M merger with Galileo Acquisition Corp.
• Sole Placement Agent to Galileo Acquisition Corp. on a $75M PIPE to support the combination with Shapeways
• Advisor to Midwest Prototyping on its sale to Prototek, a TruArc platform
• Advisor to 3D Hubs $330M on its sale to Proto Labs
• Joint Bookrunner for Materialise on its $96M equity offering
• Joint Bookrunner for Stratasys on its $230M equity offering
• Joint Bookrunner for ExOne on its $101M equity offering
• Co-Manager to Kornit Digital on $399M Follow-On Offering
• Co-Manager to 3D Systems on $460M Convertible Senior Notes Offering