5 on a Monday: update on Ansys+DYNAmore; Gamma, TECHNIA and Lectra acquire; HOOPS goes Epic

It’s Monday, one of the last of 2022 — and so much is happening.

First, an update on Ansys’ acquisition of DYNAmore: I posited that Ansys was also acquiring Scale, the DYNAmore services arm. Not so — Ansys says Scale is not part of the deal announced last week.

And now, on to other acquisition news:

Gamma Technologies (GT) is going to acquire FEMAG Software to extend its capabilities for optimizing electric motor performance and propulsion efficiency. GT says, “Unifying FEMAG technologies within the GT-SUITE platform will extend GT’s core capabilities for the development of electrified vehicles and further position GT as the preferred leader in simulation solutions for the transportation, energy, and industrial machinery industries.”

TECHNIA, a VAR business that’s part of Addnode, announced that it has acquired the electromagnetic system simulation-related business of Testhouse Nordic, adding to its expertise in Dassault Systèmes’ CST Studio Suite and Opera. As TECHNIA CEO Magnus Falkman explains, “The TECHNIA Simulation team has seen rapid growth in the past few years. We’ve assembled an extraordinary team with top-tier expertise in advanced simulation, and we’re thrilled to further bolster our presence in the Nordic region with [this acquisition].” This expertise flows both ways: The Testhouse team will gain access to TECHNIA’s global network of 65 experts across 16 countries. Also no details.

Lectra, the fashion/fabric CAD, PLM, and equipment company, will acquire TextileGenesis. TextileGenesis makes a Software as a Service (SaaS) platform that “enables fashion brands and sustainable textile manufacturers to ensure a reliable, secure and fully digital mapping of their textiles, from the fiber to the consumer, and thereby guarantee their authenticity and origins. … [TextileGenesis’] innovative traceability mechanism … guarantee[s] the exchange and tracking of reliable and secure data throughout a material’s life cycle.” It’s an interesting deal structure: Lectra will acquire 51% of TextileGenesis in January for €15.2 million. The remaining 49% will be acquired in 2 further stages in 2026 and 2028, for “an amount that will be calculated based on a multiple of the 2025 and 2027 recurring revenues.”

Each of these deals, Ansys, GT, TECHNIA/Addnoce, and Lectra, extends the acquirer into adjacencies or deepens expertise. None of them seem like a land grab of new customers. And all feel relatively small and risk-averse. Certainly, Lectra’s deal structure leads me to think that vendors are being cautious with cash, waiting to see what 2023 brings in terms of recession, war, and pandemic-related supply chain interruptions.

And there’s one more thing to tell you about. Our little PLMish part of the world is getting more visible. Tech Soft 3D just announced that Epic Games is using Hoops Exchange to simplify CAD data import into Datasmith, Epic’s tools set for importing scenes into Unreal Engine. Why does this matter? Because AEC, auto, aero and many other industries are leveling up their visualization game, making their concepts more relatable to non-engineers using augmented and virtual reality. Check out the press release about how this all came about.