BASF New Business, start-up kick-starter arm of BASF (Ludwigshafen / Germany; www.basf.com), is acquiring online 3D printing service provider Sculpteo (Paris / France; www.sculpteo.com/en) for an undisclosed sum. It expects the transaction to complete in the next few weeks, following regulatory approval. Sculpteo’s management team, led by CEO Clément Moreau, will remain in place. The acquisition of the French 3D printing specialist, which also has a US base in San Francisco, California, will enable BASF 3D Printing Solutions, a wholly-owned subsidiary of BASF New Business, to market and establish new industrial 3D printing materials more quickly, the German chemicals and plastics giant said.

Founded a decade ago, Sculpteo operates an online platform with integrated production for prototypes, individual objects and serial production components, leveraging a range of different additive manufacturing technologies. The products are used by a number of global industrial sectors. BASF said it plans to develop the existing “Sculpteo 3D” printing platform further into a global network, giving its 3D printing business an additional channel for marketing its services and expanding its customer base.

BASF recently announced the rebranding of its 3D printing activities as “Forward AM” – see Plasteurope.com of 18.11.2019.