Siemens, Graitec, Trace One, Procore all do deals; Synopsys+Ansys still not closed

I’m still digging out from under the news that accumulated while I was on vacation. Still, I already see that there were (of course) more PLMish deals announcemed over the last few weeks:

Siemens Digital Industries Software said it will acquire Wevolver, a site aggregating news, announcements, and other content from tech companies, universities, and its community members. Siemens says Wevolver reaches “millions of engineers per month on its web and social channels [and] provides access to deeply informative content, practical resources, and the latest developments in technologies like semiconductors, robotics, AI and manufacturing processes, fostering a global community of innovators.”

Siemens acquired Supplyframe in 2021, and from all I’ve heard, it’s been growing rapidly since then. Supplyframe is a Design-to-Source platform used by many in the electronics world (and, increasingly, other industries) to find suppliers, get quotes, game out sourcing strategies, discover and use market data — basically, manage their supply chains in an ever-changing world. Since joining Siemens, they’ve added deeper PLM integration, BOM validation, automated RFQs, and other PLMish tasks. Wevolver will add another layer to the offering, helping their engineering and design clients find information that helps them innovate, perhaps well before any sourcing decisions can be made.

Siemens also announced that it will acquire Excellicon, which makes solutions for managing timing constraints for integrated circuit (IC) design. (No, I don’t know what that means to any level of detail; go here for more.) Siemens says adding Excellicon to its overall EDA offer will enable it to “deliver an innovative approach to both implementation and verification flows -enabling System-on-a-Chip (SoC) designers to improve power, performance and area (PPA), accelerate design closure, enhance functional and structural constraint correctness, improve productivity and address key gaps in the current workflows”.

But it’s not all Siemens, all the time.

VAR consolidation continues. Graitec, an Autodesk Platinum Partner for AEC in North America and Europe, has acquired Microsol Resources, an Autodesk Gold Partner specialized in Building Information Modeling (BIM).

Graitec says this acquisition “reinforces Graitec’s commitment to expanding its expertise and service offerings in the AEC sector, while significantly enhancing its local presence and capabilities. By integrating Microsol Resources’ strong BIM expertise and client-centric approach, Graitec continues to cement its position as a leading technology partner for AEC professionals in the United States and Europe.”

More PLM news, too: Main Capital Partners acquired Trace One from STG, its prior owner. Trace One makes SaaS PLM and compliance solutions for the food & beverage, cosmetics & personal care, and chemical industries. Trace One says its “robust platform simplifies complexity, enhances collaboration, and optimizes every phase of the product lifecycle, from ideation to market launch”. 

The co-head of Main Capital Partners France, Jonas Kruip, said, “The investment in Trace One holds great strategic value for Main, marking the first French platform investment … Trace One furthermore fits in one of our core product markets. Trace One has a strong market position as a verticalized PLM software provider with a highly international profile and particularly experiencing strong momentum in the US. We are highly enthusiastic about the opportunities we see … to further internationalize the company, expand into adjacent verticals and focus on continuous product innovation in which a selective international buy-and-build strategy will play a significant role.” 

In the AEC world, Procore said that it will acquire Novorender and FlyPaper. Novorender is a Norwegian provider of 3D viewers, with rendering technology that “can process and combine models at 25x the speed of current construction industry standards, making it much faster to bring all of the parts of a project together.” FlyPaper (what a great company name!) makes a Navisworks plugin called Sherlock. The companies say that, “once FlyPaper is integrated, Procore BIM customers can gain access to automated and streamlined 3D design coordination, clash detection, and collaboration to improve predictability, reduce rework costs, and bolster jobsite safety.”

Financial terms were not announced for any of the above.

Finally, there is a bit of non-news: Synopsys‘ acquisition of Ansys is still pending, but it appears the companies have made some concessions to gain approval in China. The newsy piece I saw didn’t say anything about what that might be, but perhaps Synopsys will clarify with its earnings release on 28 May.

Why doesn’t the news cycle pause when I go on vacation???