So this one made me look, look and look again! [Humour supplied by Davide Quinn, TY]. More seriously though, this is a pretty big deal – literally and figuratively as the leading engineering simulation software company, ANSYS has just announced its acquisition of SpaceClaim Corporation, a leading provider of fast and intuitive 3D modeling software for engineers with an increasing emphasis on 3D printing. The deal has gone through based on a purchase price of $85 million in cash, plus retention and an adjustment for working capital. The transaction was actually closed yesterday, and in the typical vernacular, “on a non-GAAP basis, [it] is expected to be neutral to slightly accretive to ANSYS’ non-GAAP earnings per share in 2014, and accretive in 2015 and beyond.”
SpaceClaim — based in Concord, Massachusetts — was the first software provider to offer powerful (read professional) and easy-to-use 3D modeling software for product development. They called it “direct modeling” because it was developed to address the technical complexities traditionally associated with CAD software.
The two companies have partnered previously to offer customers ANSYS® SpaceClaim Direct Modeler, but this more formal union is said, by ANSYS, to fulfill its “longtime vision [of] ‘Simulation Driven Product Development’™, in which organizations can derive tremendous value by harnessing computer simulation early in the design cycle to predict how a product will perform in the real world.”
Now, with the addition of SpaceClaim, ANSYS is seeking to provide customers with a powerful and intuitive 3D direct modelling solution to design new concepts and then leverage the power of simulation to rapidly iterate on these designs to drive innovation.
According to Jim Cashman, President and CEO of ANSYS: “This transaction is consistent with our strategic vision and M&A strategy, and accelerates our technological product roadmap to enhance our customer offering and drive growth. SpaceClaim is an exciting addition to our portfolio, as it addresses unmet 3D modeling needs in the conceptual modeling, manufacturing and 3D printing spaces, which represents an audience of 5 million users. In addition to driving innovation, the addition of SpaceClaim helps ANSYS accelerate the growth of the simulation market by broadening our user base from analysts and expert users to the millions of design and systems engineers in the industry. We welcome the SpaceClaim team to ANSYS.”
Meanwhile, Daniel Dean, senior vice president of research and development at SpaceClaim says: “Leading companies know they need to modernize their engineering software and platforms if they want to develop truly innovative products. SpaceClaim’s 3D tools – combined with ANSYS’ proven simulation software – are ideally suited to the rapid pace of today’s business, driving a shorter product development process from concept to prototype.”
The CAD wires are going to light up with this one, and I’m sure those pesky analysts will have something to say about it, too.
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