Thursday, January 17, 2013

3D Printer Co. ExOne Files for $75 Million IPO (XONE)

Part of the company's positioning is use of the phrase "Imminent Materialization". Not really catchy but I like it.

If you are new to our little corner of Mr. Berners-Lee's www, we don't invest in IPOs. Period.
There are so many ways to underperform in investing that we can't use every available technique.

We do however like the information that you can glean from S-1's.

The company, ExOne, is tiny but their technology makes the whole "Maker" movement look like child's play.
As I said in December's "Stratasys as the Leader in the 3D Printing Industry (SSYS; DDD)":
There is some European stuff, particularly in additive manufacturing but also in bioprinting, that SSYS will have to keep an eye on if they intend to be top dog.... 
And earlier this month, "3D: "The Difference Between Makers and Manufacturers"":
From our September 14, 2012 post, "Another Use for 3D Printing: Building A Beak for a Bald Eagle":
Because the technology is only now ramping up (after a twenty year gestation) the results are still a bit crude.
As advances are made in sintering there will eventually be stuff made, not prototypes but actual stuff, from steel or copper or...

Two European companies — EOS of Germany and Arcam of Sweden are ahead of the pack in the metalworking part of the biz....
Here's MIT's Technology Review making the same point I did, but better, backwards and in heels...
From the prospectus summary:
 "Our revenues for the year ended December 31, 2011 were $15.3 million, as compared to $13.4 million for the prior year period, and for the first nine months of 2012 were $15.9 million, as compared to $12.6 million for the same period in 2011. Our EBITDA was ($8.9) million for the first nine months of 2012, as compared to ($2.3) million for the same period in 2011"...
Here's the press release:
The ExOne Company Files Registration Statement for Proposed Initial Public Offering
(North Huntingdon, PA) January 9, 2013 / PR Newswire: The ExOne Company (“ExOne”), a global provider of three‐dimensional (“3D”) printing machines and printed products to industrial customers, today announced that it has filed a registration statement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) for a proposed initial public offering of its common stock. The registration statement had previously been submitted on a confidential  basis under the JOBS Act. The number of shares to be offered and the price range for the offering have not yet been determined. An application will be made to list the common stock on the Nasdaq Global Market under the symbol “XONE.”

FBR Capital Markets & Co. is acting as the book‐running manager for the proposed offering....MORE (2 page PDF)
Here's the S-1 registration statement.
And a couple stories from the hometown newspaper, the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review:
3-D printing specialist ExOne hopes to raise $75M in stock offering
Technology takes printing to whole different dimension