Scary publishing news: BusinessWeek sold for <$5 million
I look away for a few days ... It was announced earlier this week that BusinessWeek was sold by McGraw-Hill to Bloomberg for under $5 million. BusinessWeek, founded in 1929, used to be the magazine of record of the business world (less opinionated than Forbes, more...
Small world: Gallello takes reins at MSC
Symphony Technology Group (STG) announced today that it has completed its acquisition of MSC Software for a grand total of $390 million and that Dominic Gallello will be taking over as CEO.According to the press release, STG "will build a stronger company,...
Shareholders vote today on MSC/Symphony deal
MSC.Software Corporation holds a meeting today at 9AM Pacific at which shareholders will have their say on the deal reached last month with Symphony Technology Group to buy the company for $8.40 per share in cash. The share closed yesterday at $8.41, so someone still...
Social media can lead to problems, threaten success
Interesting lessons to be learned as a vendor tiptoes the line between success and disaster: A vendor (nowhere near the engineering software/PLM world) sent out an email announcing the imminent release of a new product. With permission, this email was posted on a...
Maintenance: 7% or 22% — or something in between?
InformationWeek last week published a very interesting article on the options available to software vendors as they determine how to price maintenance. In case you missed it: SAP customers revolted earlier this year, refusing to support a maintenance price increase...
Autodesk selects first Algor resellers
Autodesk is finally announcing that seven resellers have been selected and are qualified to sell the Algor product line. Before its acquisition by Autodesk, Algor products were available in the US through online and telephone sales and in the Europe, the Middle East...
AVEVA weighing acquisitions and cashback
We’ve been watching AVEVA’s share price climb on the London Stock Exchange and wondered why. The company hasn’t reported financials, no massive new wins have been announced, economic news is looking up but isn’t great... But now we have a clue: According to Investors...
Are we done? MSC accepts Symphony offer of $8.40/share
MSC.Software Corporation announced today that it has entered into an agreement with Symphony Technology Group at $8.40 per share in cash. Recall that MSC announced that it had received an offer from third-party private equity firms to acquire the company for...
Update: Avatech sees signs of recovery after dismal FY09
Avatech reported results for the year ended June 30 that highlight the fragility of the VAR channel. For the fiscal year revenue declined 29% to $35.4 million, leading to a net loss of $313,000, or $(0.05) per fully diluted share for the prior year. For the fourth...
Hmm: Some on Wall St think we’re not done with MSC
We’ll find out soon enough, but at least some investors think that MSC has or is about to receive an offer of more than $8.30 per share. The stock closed the week at $8.31 but dipped back to $8.26 in after-hours trading on Friday. We’ve gone from a total deal value of...
What makes good Twitter?
Week two (week one) in the Twitterverse is a study in contradictions. There's almost nothing of a PLMish nature to report; none of the vendors I elected to follow tweeted anything of substance while companies more experienced in interacting this way did post...
Microblogging here to stay?
Wow. The Wall Street Journal says that Twitter is about to close a $100 million round of new venture capital funding that will value the company at $1 billion. The real problem, of course is that Twitter has yet to generate revenue or prove that it has any sort of...
Update: MSC gets yet another offer, postpones meeting
MSC Software announced today that it received a new offer from the unnamed party bidding on the company of $8.30 per share. Symphony now has until September 28 to make a “responsive offer”. Under the original deal struck between MSC and Symphony, MSC may terminate...
Virtual conference: as good as being there?
Last week I attended my first virtual conference: Powering the Computational Ecosystem. From a technological, gee-whiz aspect, it was very cool: On24, an online event producer, created a virtual conference venue, complete with lobby, exhibit hall and auditorium....
Adventures in the Twitter world
Since I wrote earlier in the week about PLM and social media, I decided to step up to the bat and join Twitter. Signing up for the account was ridiculously easy -- which is why you occasionally see a celebrity announcing “that’s not me!” You might want to take a look...
Symphony ups its offer to $8.15/share for MSC
In a sort of non-announcement, MSC Software today announced that Symphony Technology Group has bumped its offer to $8.15 per share in cash, equalling the offer it received from an unnamed third party last week. According to the press release, “The MSC Board of...
Now THAT’s a headline!
Last week I wrote about crafting a press release that is brief, compelling and spurs the reader on to a desired next step. Today Dassault Systèmes issued a release that isn’t brief but is quite compelling: Entergy Nuclear Expects to Save Up to $1 Million per Day with...
ANSYS hopes CAD+CAE = better CAE
So you’re a CAD company without an analysis capability or a CAE vendor without strong ties to any one 3D modeling engine. How do you compete with the integrated suites offered by vendors such as Autodesk, Dassault Systèmes, PTC and Siemens? You partner. Last week,...
ESI reports Q2 flat with last year
ESI Group yesterday reported preliminary results for the quarter ended July 31 that echoed the business conditions seen by others in the PLM universe: companies need the innovation solutions PLM supplies, but are having a hard time signing up right now. Repeatable...
WSJ on helping displaced workers
The Wall Street Journal today showcases how a carpet manufacturer, legal information service and PLM vendor are helping their unemployed former customers retool and retrain for an eventual economic recovery.The best idea comes from David Carr, an interior architect...
