The complaint alleges that Defendants made false and misleading statements concerning Desktop Metal’s widely touted $300 million acquisition of EnvisionTEC, which closed on or about Feb. 16, 2021.
Specifically, Defendants misrepresented and concealed: (1) that there were deficiencies in EnvisionTEC’s manufacturing and product compliance practices and procedures; (2) that the foregoing deficiencies presented a material risk to the commercialization of EnvisionTEC’s products; and (3) that, as a result of the foregoing, Defendants’ positive statements about the Company’s business, operations, and prospects were materially misleading and/or lacked a reasonable basis
The truth began to emerge on Nov. 8, 2021, when Desktop Metal disclosed that it was conducting an internal investigation into certain matters, including “manufacturing and product compliance practices and procedures with respect to a subset of its photopolymer equipment and materials at its EnvisionTEC US LLC facility.” The Company also stated that EnvisionTEC’s founder and CEO (Ali El Siblani) had resigned.
Then, on Nov. 15, 2021, the Company announced that, as of Nov. 12, 2021, based on compliance issues with certain shipments of EnvisionTEC’s Flexera dental resins and its PCA4000 curing box, the Company would notify the FDA.
These events sent the price of Desktop Metal shares sharply lower.