3D SYSTEMS OFFERS TO BUY DTM CORP. STOCK IN MERGER MOVE.

Byline: Daily News

VALENCIA - 3D Systems Corp. opened an offer Monday to buy all the outstanding shares of common stock of DTM Corp. for $5.80 per share in cash, a crucial step in the merger of the two high-tech companies.

The tender offer will expire at midnight Eastern time on May 29, unless extended by 3D Systems. The offer followed an April 2 agreement to merge.

Under the pact, the offer will be followed by a merger in which each share of DTM common stock not tendered through the offer will convert to a right to receive $5.80 in cash. All employee options will be converted into a right to receive cash at the same value as the common stock.

After the merger, DTM will become a wholly owned subsidiary of 3D Systems.

The closing of the tender offer is subject to closing conditions including the acquisition of at least 67 percent of DTM's outstanding shares of common stock and 3D Systems' ability to secure the financing necessary to complete the transaction.

DTM's chief executive officer, John S. Murchison III, and DTM Acquisition Corp., together representing approximately 52.7 percent of DTM's outstanding shares of common stock, have entered into agreements involving their shares pursuant to the tender offer.

3D Systems, in the Valencia Industrial Center, provides solid imaging systems and services that produce three-dimensional models from computer images, reducing the time and cost required to design, test and manufacture products. The company's systems utilize patented technologies that create physical objects from digital input.

3D Systems products, software and materials, run from $49,995 for the company's entry-level printer to $799,000 for the industrial system.

DTM develops, manufactures and markets advanced rapid prototyping and manufacturing systems. A growing number of manufacturers and service bureaus worldwide use these systems to rapidly create three-dimensional prototypes, parts, molds, tooling and casting patterns.