Sandvik to acquire Cimquest, the CAM & 3DP reseller

We interrupt space and earnings news to tell you about another acquisition: Sandvik has announced that it will acquire Cimquest, the largest Mastercam reseller. (Remember that Sandvik acquired CNC Software, the maker of Mastercam, in 2021.)

In the press release, Sandvik said that Cimquest has been a Mastercam reseller since 1990 (I hadn’t realized the relationship goes back that far) and that Cimquest also distributes 3D printers from HP and Desktop Metal, among others.

Stefan Widing, Sandvik CEO said, .“The acquisition of Cimquest is another step in our strategic direction to grow in the digital manufacturing space, and an important investment in Mastercam’s channels. This will strengthen our presence within CAM, expand our ability to serve customers and improve our growth platform going forward.”

The press release also said that Cimquest had revenue of $26 million in 2023; it sounds like that sum does not include the revenue derived from the Mastercam part of its business. Not sure. The exact words: “A limited part of Cimquest revenues in 2023 were to Sandvik-owned Mastercam and will not impact Group total external revenues.” Since I think the point of the revenue disclosure was to identify what will be added to Sandvik’s revenue going forward, it is net of the Mastercam component. But again, not sure.

Sandvik and Cimquest agreed not to disclose the sale price.

So much to unpack here. A VAR that’s been around since before 1990 gets an exit — in addition to the long-term Mastercam relationship, it was the first SolidWorks and first Desktop Metal reseller in the world, according to its website. Next, Sandvik gets greater control of its Mastercam sales channel — a good thing if it wants to tweak go-to-market. Lastly, Sandvik gains access to the strong relationships Cimquest has built throughout its history with world-class manufacturing names.

Cimquest will become part of the Mastercam business, which is publicly reported within the Sandvik Manufacturing and Machining Solutions unit. We may know more when Sandvik next reports results in April, though the deal may be mentioned in the “what happened after the yer closed” part of the Annual Report, due out on March 13.