BICO acquires Allegro 3D

BICO Group AB acquired 100% of the shares in Allegro 3D Inc., based in San Diego, California, USA. The acquisition of Allegro 3D and its light-based 3D bioprinting technology is meant to further strengthen the Bioprinting business area’s position as a global market leader in 3D bioprinting.

“The acquisition of Allegro 3D is in-line with our M&A strategy of add-on acquisitions where Allegro 3D complements CELLINK’s product portfolio strongly and can quickly be integrated into the current product offering and commercialization infrastructure,” commented BICO Head of M&A Jacob Thordenberg.

Allegro 3D’s products improve customers’ ability to achieve scalability in their production and development of biofabricated designs in regenerative medicine and drug development. The Allegro 3D portfolio enables high precision and high-speed bioprinting that is tailored for multi-well printing, providing life science companies with the features needed for developing tissue constructs for regenerative medicine and drug testing workflows.

The acquisition is in line with BICO’s commercial agenda to provide technologies and sustainable solutions that bring us closer to a world where on-demand tissue is a reality, reducing the dependency on animal models. With Allegro 3D, BICO continues to add complementary bioprinting methods to the group. Adding to the CELLINK portfolio enables the company to strengthen its position as the global leader in providing bioprinters. With a robust portfolio of extrusion, 2PP and DLP printers, Allegro 3D’s patented printing technology is a strong complement to CELLINK’s existing offer of application-tailored products.

The company will remain an independent entity but will be integrated into the commercial structure of global bioprinting leader, CELLINK, another company in the BICO bioprinting business area.

The purchase price initially amounts to USD 6 million in cash. In addition, the sellers have the opportunity to receive a maximum of USD 5 million in the form of a contingent consideration over the next two years. For the maximum outcome of the contingent purchase price, it is required, among other things, that the company has revenues of at least USD 5.5 million in 2023/2024. Allegro 3D’s sales in 2021 amounted to approximately SEK 1 million (about $100,000). Based on an analysis of the company, identifiable assets, in addition to book net assets, are expected to consist of surplus values in the form of primarily technology. Due to the fact that all acquired surplus values have not yet been fully analyzed, the purchase price allocation is still preliminary.

A majority of the purchase price is expected to be allocated to goodwill. The goodwill value includes the value of the acquired staff’s know-how and synergy effects in the form of more efficient production and sales processes in the Group after the acquisition. No part of the goodwill is expected to be tax deductible. Allegro 3D has contributed with sales of SEK 11 million (about $1 million USD) in 2022. If Allegro 3D had been included in the company’s accounts throughout the financial year, the acquisition would have contributed sales of a total of SEK 12 million in 2022.

*This article was published on November 29th 2022, and backdated to reflect the original time of the acquisition