Cadence expands CAE portfolio with $3.25B MSC Software deal
Cadence announced yesterday that it will acquire Hexagon’s Design and Engineering (D&E) business—including MSC Software—for €2.7 billion (~$3.25 billion). The deal is a mix of cash (€1.89 billion) and stock (€810 million), valuing the business at roughly 10x...
The reality of AI: Costs and adoption challenges
I've come across two interesting reports that highlight how confusing the world of AI is right now -- token prices aren't doing what we thought they would. Adoption also hasn't yet had the effects we were hoping to see. Perhaps the only good news: An MIT study found...
PLMish earnings so far: mostly cautious but upbeat
Bentley Systems and Trimble reported results yesterday, so while we have weeks to go still in this earnings season, it seems reasonable to do a recap of the main themes so far. As you may know, I listen to a lot of earnings for the end-buyers of our PLMish...
Desktop Metal files for bankruptcy protection
In case you're just tuning in, there is a long saga of consolidation in the additive manufacturing space. Nano Dimension tried to buy Desktop Metal and Markforged and ultimately succeeded, but has been rebuffed by Stratasys several times since 2023. All of this...
It’s done: Ansys is part of Synopsys
We knew it was coming, but it's still a bit of a shock: Synopsys announced today that has completed its $35 billion acquisition of Ansys. Synopsys CEO Sassine Ghazi said, "Today marks a transformational milestone for Synopsys. For decades, Synopsys has been delivering...
Autodesk says it’s sticking to tuck-in acquisitions
And the news just keeps coming on what is supposed to be a sleepy summer Monday … unless you're in France, where it's Bastille Day. Autodesk just released a filing to the SEC (here on Autodesk's website) that is short and to the point: We are confident in our plans to...
China finally grants approval for Synopsys+Ansys
Reuters and other news outlets are reporting that the Chinese State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) has approved Synopsys' acquisition of Ansys, subject to the following conditions: Synopsys must divest its Optical Solutions Group (OSG) business, and Ansys...
Bloomberg: Autodesk thinking about buying PTC
Late yesterday, Bloomberg reported that Autodesk Inc. is weighing an acquisition of rival engineering-software provider PTC Inc., according to people familiar with the matter.PTC is also drawing interest from other industry players, and no final decision has been made...
US Chip EDA sales can resume in China
I genuinely dislike headlines like this, from Reuters this morning: "As trade war truce with China holds, US lifts curbs for chip design software and ethane," because it very much sounds like the restrictions could be reversed at any time. But for now, the U.S....
Uhoh: China may be blocking Ansys + Synopsys
According to a couple of news outlets (here and here, for example), Chinese regulators have now blocked Synopsys's acquisition of Ansys because, the reports say, the US banned US EDA makers from selling in China. Shares of Synopsys and Ansys are both down on the news....
Movement in the EDA/China saga?
News is out this morning that some access to US EDA has been restored in China. I can't find anything from the EDA vendors themselves, but various outlets (here, citing Digitimes, which is behind a paywall; here, a tweet in English discussing a Chinese blogger's post...
Siemens’ update on US China EDA ban – and I have thoughts. Of course I do.
If you recall, last week, the news broke that the US Bureau of Industry and Security (part of the Department of Commerce) had sent letters to Cadence, Siemens, and Synopsys telling them to stop selling specific EDA tools in China. The BIS is concerned that these...
Let’s talk about AI
I'm seeing two very different strategies as engineering/design/manufacturing/construction companies think about artificial intelligence: On the one hand, many bigger companies have teams (usually in IT) who stay on top of machine learning, large language models, and...
US government tells vendors to stop selling EDA in China
During the Synopsys earnings call on Wednesday, an investor asked management if they knew about the Trump administration's letter telling EDA vendors to stop selling in China. Synopsys said no, it hadn't received one, but Ansys, Cadence, and Synopsys shares tumbled...
US FTC weighs in on Synopsys + Ansys, enters public comment period
Late yesterday, the US Federal Trade Commission said that it would approve Synopsys's acquisition of Ansys if the companies divest specific assets that the FTC believes could otherwise lead to "higher costs for the countless everyday products that use computer chips,...
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...
FARO to be acquired for $920 million
News came this morning that AMETEK, Inc. is going to acquire all outstanding shares of FARO Technologies' common stock for $44 per share in cash, for a total of around $920 million -- and that per share price is roughly 40% above FARO's closing price on May 5, 2025....
Hannover Messe: Manufacturing’s big show
Over the last few weeks, I've been briefed by a lot of PLMish companies about what they'd be showcasing at Hannover Messe, the giant trade fair in Germany that looks at all things smart manufacturing. Almost 130,000 people attended this year to hear from 4,000...
5 on a Tuesday: Hexagon, Siemens + Dotmatics, Nano + Desktop, Rescale, Chinese/Hungarian BIM — oh my
There is a LOT going on, so it's time for a catch up. Earnings season is about to start again, and we've already had one early report: Hexagon pre-announced Q1 results that missed expectations on both revenue growth and margins. (Recall that Hexagon doesn't issue...
So, Tariffs. What does that mean for our PLMish universe?
When I was a kid, the US imposed tariffs on Japanese cars. Why? Because high gas prices led consumers to want smaller, more efficient cars, and American automakers only produced gas-guzzlers. To make domestic cars more attractive and to buy time for the US makers to...
