Early this morning, Dassault Systèmes announced that it has acquired an 84% controlling interest in Realtime Technology AG (RTT), a provider of what are called “marketing automation” technologies that enable its customers to create what it calls “emotive digital experiences” as they develop and bring products to market. You may not know of RTT’s DeltaGen, PictureBook, POS Configurator but you’ve probably heard of Bunkspeed, which RTT acquired at the end of October. RTT is publicly traded in Germany; DS has/is in the process of acquiring for cash 84% of the outstanding shares and, according to the acquisition announcement, DS will launch an offer to acquire the remaining 16% of shares “in the coming days”. RTT reported revenue of €74 million in 2012, so this will hardly move the DS revenue needle. DS is holding a conference call about the acquisition in a couple of hours. I’ll update after the call, if there’s anything new to add.
Yesterday, amid a blizzard of announcements from the EuroMold 2013 conference, 3D Systems announced that it has acquired Figulo, a 2-year old company that applies 3D printing to ceramics. The company plans to integrate Figulo’s ceramics technology into the Cubify platform and will, longer-term, use Figulo’s ceramics expertise to bring out 3D printers that can make ceramics for commercial and hobbyist applications. Just a few years ago, 3D printing created brittle wax-like plastic parts; today, we can make paper, metal, durable plastic and, now, ceramic parts. How cool is that?!
Hexagon continues to consolidate its reseller channel, acquiring PIXIS Consultoria, Soluciones de Ingeniera y Servicios, its exclusive distributor of Intergraph solutions in Chile and Peru. Hexagon says that “the addition of Pixis will not only directly benefit the Intergraph PP&M business but also accelerate implementation of Intergraph SG&I’s offerings across the entire region”.
Hexagon also announced a bit of a reorg, with the formation of a new Hexagon Solutions group that will focus on the Smart Solutions portfolio of cross-business (ie Intergraph + Leica, etc.) offerings under the leadership of Claudio Simão. Steven Cost, Intergraph CFO, will succeed John Graham as President of Intergraph SG&I, even as Hexagon Geospatial is split out of SG&I under the (continuing) leadership of Mladen Stojic. Mattias Stenberg, who had been VP of Strategy and Communications for Hexagon, moves up to Chief Strategy Officer. FYI, Gerhard Sallinger remains President of Intergraph PP&M.
I already told you about ANSYS‘ intention to merge with Reaction Design. Investors don’t seem to get the significance, sending the share up only 0.5% on a day when the NASDAQ overall was essentially flat. Yes, it’s unlikely that Reaction Design will add any significant revenue in the short-term, but it will expand ANSYS’ reach into its automotive customers and offer strategically important solutions to optimize engine performance to those key accounts.
Finally, Exa Corp. announced results for its fiscal Q3 that showed that some of the opportunity the company sees may be materializing. Total revenue was up 12% as reported and up 15% in constant currencies. License revenue was up 8% to $11 million while project revenue was up 30% to $3 million (remember that Exa typically engages with customers on a specific project before license sales take place). CEO Steve Remondi told investors that demand for Exa’s CFD solutions continues to gain momentum among passenger car OEMs and suppliers, even as the truck and off-highway segments of the ground transportation market are “challenged”. Mr. Remondi also said that early renewals (ahead of the historically strong Q4 renewal period) and “a number” customers topping up their tokens in mid-year led to the strong Q3 results.
One more day at AU, then home. Looking forward to both of those …