5 on a Monday: Addnode & Sandvik report Q2, Cadence acquires Future Facilities, Matterport adds to its real estate offering & Siemens snaps up ZONA for aero simulation

Yes, a quick catchup blog is unusual on a Monday, but I was traveling last week and am just now digging through the inbox. A lot happened while I was away!

We had a couple of early earnings releases, and things seem positive so far, with a slight drag from exiting business in Russia. The pace of company reporting will ram up next week.

Addnode, the company that is snapping up VARs, reported that organic revenue was up 14% in the second quarter (and total revenue was up 49%, including acquisitions). Addnode said all of its businesses ” experienced good demand, won new business and improved earnings.” Design Management, the division that acquired the Symetri and Microdesk Autodesk resellers, “achieved the biggest improvement, doubling EBITA … Demand on the US market was positive in the second quarter, and initially, Microdesk’s sales were better than expected.” That bodes well for Autodesk …

Sandvik, the other Nordic company buying everything in sight –though this time, CAM-related– also reported results. In constant currencies, total revenue was up 34%(up 25% in constant currencies) and up 6% on an organic basis. Sandvik Manufacturing and Machining Solutions saw solid underlying demand, even in a rocky geopolitical environment. Revenue in Q2 was up 3% on an organic basis and up 15% overall, in constant currencies. The company said, “Demand was solid across the segments. Excluding Russia, the core cutting tool brands grew order intake by mid-single digits, driven by aerospace and general engineering. [The Covid-related lockdowns in] China clouded visibility on general demand, while June displayed a good pace in invoicing. The strongest year-on-year order intake growth was recorded in North America, which grew by 11%. Europe declined by 3% (excluding Russia, it was up by 3%), and Asia was down year on year by 4%.” That’s a bit confusing but says that business was good in Russia and North America, unclear in Asia, and nonexistent in Russia.

And we’re seeing an uptick in deal news:

Cadence acquired Future Facilities, makers of software that enables data centers to optimize operations via electronics cooling analysis and energy performance optimization using physics-based tools. I spoke with Hassan Moezzi, the funder of Future Facilities, a while ago and was amazed to learn 1. how many data centers there are, 2 how much energy they can use and, therefore, how important this economic analysis is, and 3. that most data centers aren’t run but the companies you can easily name. For example, banks and other financial institutions may host their own data centers or outsource this to a third party. Future Facilities’ 6Sigma Digital Twin electronics thermal solution, says Cadence, integrates “CFD techniques with a wide range of data center infrastructure management (DCIM) tools and power and cooling modules, Future Facilities simulates the impact of changes in servers on physical capacity, power infrastructure and cooling.” The deal is done, and no terms were released.

Matterport announced that it has acquired VHT, Inc., aka VHT Studios, a real estate marketing company that sells solutions to brokerages and agents that help them promote and sell properties. Why do this? To bring Matterport’s 3D Digital Twin platform to real estate marketing, “to elevate the buying experience for home buyers while simplifying the process of creating comprehensive marketing packages for brokers and agents. With this acquisition, Matterport aims to increase adoption of digital twin technology and expand further into the real estate industry while adding marketing services for other key markets such as commercial real estate, travel and hospitality, and the retail sector.” Terms of the deal weren’t disclosed.

Finally, Siemens announced today that it is acquiring ZONA Technology Inc. to add the ability to “simulate the aeroelastic behavior of aircraft in all flight regimes.” According to Siemens, this complements its existing offerings for aerospace by adding “aeroelasticity, aeroservoelasticiy, aerothermoelasticity, structure optimization, Multidisciplinary Design and Optimization (MDAO), and flight loads”. So many quotes because I don’t even know what aeroservoelasticiy might be … but here’s a terrific blog that explains why Siemens felt ZONA is a great addition to Simcenter. The terms of the deal were not disclosed, but it is expected to close before the end of 2022.