Prodways extends its offer of technologies to selective laser sintering for plastics and metals

PARIS — (BUSINESS WIRE) — September 23, 2015 — Prodways Group, subsidiary of Groupe Gorgé, has announced the signing of a major partnership with the Chinese company Hunan Farsoon High-Tech, regarding selective laser sintering technologies for plastic and metal powders. Prodways’ group will rapidly develop a full range of plastic and metal printers under the "Prodways powered by Farsoon" line, based on the current range of Farsoon’s machines. These 3D printers will be marketed worldwide by Prodways in the coming months, together with related materials.

These machines, which are world-class industrial 3D Selective Laser Sintering printers, will enable Prodways to compete with the existing market players becoming the only non-American company to offer a very large range of technologies using plastic and metal powders, as well as liquid resins.

Farsoon is, according to Farsoon, the third-largest manufacturer in the world of industrial 3D printing machines using selective laser sintering of plastics and is developing high quality plastic and metal technologies. The company, created in 2009 and employing 200 people, also boasts its own industrial facilities including, in particular, a chemical plant dedicated to the manufacture of sintering powder for additive manufacturing, which, according to Farsoon, makes it the second-largest manufacturer in the world of materials for selective laser sintering of plastics.

This strategic partnership brings together the acknowledged skills of Dr. Xu, founder of Farsoon and a global reference in the field of selective laser sintering for more than 20 years, and Dr. André-Luc Allanic, co-founder of Prodways and inventor of the MOVINGLight® technology.

" Farsoon and Prodways share the same vision and the same values of innovation and a constant search for the best solutions for their industrial customers. Moreover, Dr. Xu and Dr. Allanic have already worked together at 3D Systems before founding their own companies and developing groundbreaking 3D printing solutions," announced Philippe Laude, Deputy Managing Director of Prodways Group.

Combining the two companies' R&D resources will create a very powerful research facility, allowing us to rapidly develop selective laser sintering printers using plastic and metal powders. These will be marketed by Prodways worldwide under the "Prodways powered by Farsoon" brand. A dedicated assembly line for these new machines will be installed in Les Mureaux (Prodways’ site).

Farsoon will benefit from the global coverage provided by Prodways: "I am delighted by this partnership with Prodways, which boasts a well-known brand and has a very extensive network of dealers and service providers, and allows innovative solutions based on our technologies to be proposed to industrial customers worldwide," commented Dr. Xu, founder of Farsoon.

A significant new investment in Varia 3D

Prodways announced that a significant stake had been taken in Varia 3D, based in Texas (USA). As the commercial long-standing partner of Farsoon, Varia 3D offers service bureau activities, machine maintenance and also technical upgrades on machines, with significant expertise in selective laser sintering.

Its founders, Brian Bauman and Chuck Kennedy, are acknowledged experts in selective laser sintering using plastic and metal powders; they will join the Prodways Americas teams.

Their expertise will boost the selective laser sintering technology know-how already available in Prodways following the acquisition of the assets of the British company, Norge Systems, last March. This stake of 45% may be increased in the future. It strengthens Prodways' footprint in the United States, a move which was first made with the creation of the Prodways Americas subsidiary in Minneapolis in February 2015, and confirms the Company's global ambitions.

These two strategic announcements represent a major stage in Prodways' technological and geographical development strategy for the market for 3D Printing. They mark a sizeable step forward to becoming an alternative to the current leaders and confirm the Company's stated objective of becoming the third-largest player in the world to offer an industrial multi-technological product range.

About Groupe Gorgé:

Established in 1990, Group Gorgé is an industrial group operating in different areas of expertise: Smart Safety Systems, Protection in Nuclear Environments, Industrial Projects & Services and 3D Printing.

In 2014, the Group reported revenue of €223.3 million. It is backed by 1,370 employees and operations in over ten countries. Groupe Gorgé is listed on NYSE Euronext Paris (ISIN: FR0000062671; Ticker code: GOE) and on the US OTC market (ISIN: US3994511034; OTC Pink: GGRGY / GGRGF) in the form of ADR.

More information available on www.groupe-gorge.com.

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Groupe Gorgé
Nathalie Lagos, +33 1 44 77 94 77
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