Siemens is to buy Altair Engineering in the US for $10bn for its simulation and AI development tools.
Altair acquired Joe Costello EDA startup Metric Design Automation back in July this year to add a free cloud-based electronics simulation tool to its portfolio. The company also has a close relationship with Rolls Royce in the UK.
The AI and simulation tools will be added to the Siemens digital twin software for a full physics-based, simulation portfolio as part of Siemens Xcelerator. Altair’s data science and AI-powered simulation capabilities allow anyone, from engineers to generalists, to access simulation expertise to decrease time-to-market and accelerate design iterations. The data science capabilities can also be used in product lifecycle and manufacturing processes.
Altair expands simulation software capablities
“Acquiring Altair marks a significant milestone for Siemens. This strategic investment aligns with our commitment to accelerate the digital and sustainability transformations of our customers by combining the real and digital worlds. The addition of Altair’s capabilities in simulation, high performance computing, data science, and artificial intelligence together with Siemens Xcelerator will create the world’s most complete AI-powered design and simulation portfolio,” said Roland Busch, President and CEO of Siemens.
The offer of $113 a share in cash is a 19% premium to Altair’s unaffected closing price on October 21, 2024. It will add around €600m, or 8%, to the Siemens digital business. The funding comes from the spinning out of the Innomotics motor business and other divestments.
“It is a logical next step: we have been building our leadership in industrial software for the last 15 years, most recently, democratizing the benefits of data and AI for entire industries.” “The acquisition of Altair is highly synergistic, underpinning Siemens’ stringent capital allocation, balancing investments and shareholder returns on the basis of a strong balance sheet. The transaction is expected to be EPS accretive two years post-closing,” said Ralf P. Thomas, CFO of Siemens.
“This acquisition represents the culmination of nearly 40 years in which Altair has grown from a startup in Detroit to a world-class software and technology company. We have added thousands of customers globally in manufacturing, life sciences, energy and financial services, and built an amazing workforce, and innovative culture,” said James Scapa, Altair’s founder and CEO.
“We believe this combination of two strongly complementary leaders in the engineering software space brings together Altair’s broad portfolio in simulation, data science, and HPC with Siemens’ strong position in mechanical and EDA design. Siemens’ outstanding technology, strategic customer relationships, and honest, technical culture is an excellent fit for Altair to continue its journey driving innovation with computational intelligence.”
Closing of the transaction is subject to customary conditions and is expected within the second half of 2025.
www.siemens.com; www.altair.com