News broke earlier this week that 3D Systems Corp. (NYSE: DDD) was going to raise up to $250 million in new capital in a secondary stock offering. The effort to raise capital also would be with a small bit of selling from insiders and prior backers. We now have the underwritten offering priced, and the result will be very disappointing for prior shareholders.

The company sold 7.5 million shares in total at $40.00 per share for a total of $300 million in gross proceeds. While 3D will not receive any of the proceeds from the insiders selling shares, the 3D printing company plans to use the proceeds from shares it is selling to finance future acquisitions and for working capital and for general corporate purposes. Needham & Company was listed as the sole book-running manager of this offering. Canaccord Genuity and Piper Jaffray & Co. were listed as the co-lead managers.

Today’s offering puts 3D Systems as a likely acquirer in the space of 3D printing. Some companies just say “for general corporate purposes” in the Use of Proceeds section. 3D Systems specifically stated that the capital raise was to finance future acquisitions in its release.

3D Systems saw its stock fall 1.27% to $42.62 on Tuesday before the deal was announced, and shares closed at $43.00 on Thursday, with a $4 billion market cap, against a 52-week range of $17.04 to $47.99. Pricing this down at $40 per share is just ugly, instantly taking about $3 per share out of every shareholder’s pockets.

Before the effects of this offering, 3D Systems traded at 40 times expected 2013 earnings and 32 times expected 2014 earnings. Now shareholders have to worry about what price the company is wiling to pay as an acquirer less than two years after the 3D Systems IPO.

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