With the acquisition, Align moves to strengthen its digital platform and paves the way for cross-discipline dentistry with the company’s products.
Align Technology Inc is set to acquire the CAD/CAM solutions company exocad. In acquiring the privately held exocad Global Holdings GmbH for approximately 376€ million in cash, Align moves to strengthen its digital platform with the dental CAD/CAM software company.
exocad offers a fully integrated workflow to dental labs and dental practices via a broad customer base of partners and resellers in over 150 countries.
Align expects the acquisition to bring exocad’s expertise in restorative dentistry, implantology, guided surgery, and orthodontics to the Align technology portfolio, extending Align’s Invisalign and iTero digital solutions and paving the way for seamless cross-discipline dentistry in lab and at chair side.
exocad also boosts Align’s digital dentistry platform reach with close to 200 partners and more than 35,000 licenses installed worldwide.
“Dentistry today is evolving digitally, with technology advances and consumer awareness driving new opportunities in ortho-restorative and comprehensive treatment. Align is in a unique position to lead the digital transformation of dentistry by reimagining comprehensive treatment planning and by reinventing the way orthodontists and GPs practice with our digital platform for transforming smiles,” said Joe Hogan, Align Technology president and CEO. “exocad allows us to broaden and deepen Align’s digital platform by addressing restorative needs in our end-to-end digital platform that facilitate ortho-restorative and comprehensive dentistry and accelerates adoption of Invisalign treatment among the more than 300 million potential patients worldwide.”
This acquisition is the next step in the collaboration between Align and exocad that started in 2017 with the integration of Align’s iTero intraoral scanners and exocad Chairside CAD software. The collaboration later expanded to a fully validated workflow that enabled in-house milling of dental restoration on any compatible milling machine, and most recently, at the Chicago Midwinter Meeting 2020, the announcement of the exocad Connector.
“I am excited by the enormous growth opportunity for exocad and its customers that comes with being a part of Align Technology,” said Tillmann Steinbrecher, CEO and co-founder of exocad. “Together, we will further strengthen exocad’s position as a key technology provider for the dental CAD/CAM industry and drive continuous innovation with the open and integrated approach that is the foundation of our company.”
exocad will continue to operate as it exists today, with the company’s co-founders Tillmann Steinbrecher and Maik Gerth, along with their team, expected to remain after the transaction closes and report into John Morici, Align Technology, senior vice president and CFO.
