BREAKING NEWS: all six non-Murchinson directors resign from Nano Dimension board
The Atomic Layers: S5E17 (00133)
Atomic Layer of the Day:
On Friday, December 6, 2024, Yoav Stern lost several things to Murchinson. He lost his position as a director on the Nano Dimension board. He lost his financial bonuses. But most importantly, he lost control of the entire company. Murchinson, with whom Stern has been in deep conflict since at least early 2023, managed to place four of his own directors on the board—two newly appointed and two previously nominated, whose appointments were decided by an Israeli court.
It has now come to light that the remaining six board members—everyone not nominated by Murchinson—have resigned.
The Nano Dimension board now consists of four members: Ofir Baharav (Chairman), Robert Pons (Chairman of the Compensation Committee), Dr. Joshua Rosensweig (Chairman of the Audit Committee), and Kenneth Traub. As a result of the shareholder meeting held on December 6, 2024, and the ruling of the Central District Court in Israel on November 21, 2024, former board members such as Dr. Yoav Nissan-Cohen, Eitan Ben-Eliahu, and Georgette Mosbacher have stepped down.
Ofir Baharav and Robert Pons were appointed to the board after the shareholder meeting. Dr. Rosensweig and Kenneth Traub, who were elected during the extraordinary general meeting in March 2023, officially joined the board following the court’s decision, which upheld the validity of that meeting.
What does this mean?
Yoav Stern, as CEO, now has a board composed entirely of individuals who are not necessarily aligned with him.
This board can—but does not have to—remove him from his role as CEO.
Murchinson, the party responsible for nominating these board members, opposes the merger with Desktop Metal and Markforged (as I wrote on LinkedIn on Monday).
At this point, we still don’t know much for certain, but if we start speculating, it seems likely that the merger won’t happen—or at least not under the terms originally proposed.
Kerry Stevenson at Fabbaloo pointed out an interesting detail: Markforged’s current market valuation is approximately $87 million, while Nano Dimension’s proposed acquisition offer was $123 million. This seems like a convenient excuse for renegotiation, doesn’t it?
Where does this leave us?
This situation is highly dynamic, and each day could bring significant developments. One thing, however, seems almost certain: Desktop Metal is screwed, no matter what.
This entire process has dragged on far too long, and they are running out of cash.
Atomic Layer from the Past:
12-17-2019: Yoav Zeif became the fifth CEO in Stratasys history.
News & Gossip:
Today, 3D Printing Industry announced the results of their industry awards. They did it in such an embarrassing and disappointing way that I wanted to make it the focus of today’s article. But Nano won. I’ll get back to this tomorrow. This abomination needs to be addressed.
UK-based RYSE 3D registered record year with over £5 million turnover which translated into +58% growth year-to-year.
BMW Receives Full-automated Sand Core 3D Printing line from Laempe Mössner Sinto.