Sources inform ''Globes'' that 3D printer maker Solido Ltd. is apparently the company that stock market shell EZ Energy Ltd. (TASE:EZ) was referring to in its announcement in February that it planned to enter the hot new sector of 3D printing. In that announcement, the company, controlled by Oren Zahavi and Eli Zahavi, said that it would acquire 12% of a new private company for $300,000 and that this company would acquire the assets of another private company - a 3D printer maker.
Solido has undergone a number of incarnations since it was acquired in 2000. It developed a 3D desktop printer that was supposed to be a complete product using CAD to create a plastic-based product.
Solido aimed to be the market leader, and raised several million dollars over the years. In 2010, Yuval Cohen's private equity fund Fortissimo Capital led an $8.5 million financing round in the company, with a $3 million investment. That was half the amount that Fortissimo had planned to invest, but it withdrew following disputes over due diligence.
The investment turned Fortissimo into one the largest shareholders in Solido, alongside Jason Barzilay's Argoquest Holdings Inc., which first invested in the company in 2001. RoboGroup TEK Ltd. (Nasdaq: ROBOF; TASE: ROBO) owns 19% of the company. Fortissimo previously chalked up a success in the printer market, when it sold Nur Macroprinters to Hewlett Packard Co. (NYSE:HPQ) for $117.5 million in 2007, making a three-fold return on its investment.
Solido is a different story. It was put into receivership in early 2011, and fired its 30 employees. The company and its investors reportedly realized the huge scale of the investment needed to develop the technology and marketing, and decided to forego the vision of becoming the market leader.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on March 19, 2014
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