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...
MSC bidding war heats up
MSC Software announced that its board of directors has received revised offers to acquire the company. The original offer of $7.63 per share from Symphony was trumped last week when an unnamed party offered $8.00 per share; under the original agreement between...
Using Xbox 360 to simulate more than games
In the “How cool is this!” pile: According to HPCWire, researchers in the UK used a number of Xbox 360 gaming console chips to build a cheaper parallel processing engine for their research into the predictability of cardiac arrhythmias. The research is described in...
Social media the answer to PLM marketing budgets?
At a time when it is more expensive than ever to rely on traditional marketing outlets like user meetings, mailings, magazine ads and call centers, the perceived “free” nature of online marketing is very appealing. Do PLM/design/engineering/analysis software buyers...
MSC gets another offer
Remember suitor M, described in MSC’s proxy as not having financing available by the end of August? Well, that may have changed. Or it may be a completely new entrant - who knows?MSC just announced that it has received a proposal “superior” to that from Symphony and...
HPC explained
I don’t usually promote vendors’ marketing materials, but this one is just too good to pass up. Sun Microsystems and AMD have teamed up to sponsor HPC for Dummies, an ebook in the famous yellow and black Dummies series. You do need to give some contact information and...
Five tips for writing the perfect press release
I see dozens of press releases in a typical week, and most are nothing special. Company A is proud to release product B; company X has selected vendor Y; so-and-so is named to powerful-position-Z. But some releases do stick out, leading to my top tips for writing...
MSC proxy: drama, mystery and 13 suitors
MSC Software has finally filed the proxy statement for its proposed acquisition by Symphony Technology Group - and it makes interesting reading. At the very least, it explains why it took so long to get the proxy to the SEC.First, a proxy statement is a document that...
