Big Design-Software Companies Near $35 Billion Deal
Synopsys and Ansys are in exclusive talks, and a deal could come as soon as next week
Synopsys SNPS -1.10%decrease; red down pointing triangle is in advanced talks to acquire Ansys ANSS -0.02%decrease; red down pointing triangle for around $35 billion in a stock-and-cash deal that could be one of the first big transactions of the new year.
The two companies are in exclusive negotiations, according to people familiar with the matter. A deal could come together as soon as the middle of next week, granted the talks don’t fall apart.
Synopsys is discussing paying around $400 per share for Ansys.
Shares of Ansys, which have run up since news of deal talks broke in late December, closed Friday roughly flat at $344.08, giving the company a market value of about $30 billion. Synopsys had a market value of $73.7 billion at Friday’s close, with the stock ending trading down 1.1%.
Cadence Design Systems, a rival company with a market value of almost $70 billion, initially approached Ansys with an unsolicited offer for the company, thereby putting it into play, the people said.
The Wall Street Journal reported last month that Synopsys was in talks to acquire Ansys and working toward striking a deal in early 2024.
Canonsburg, Penn.-based Ansys makes software that helps predict how products will or won’t work in the real world, according to its website. It is used in the aerospace, healthcare and automotive industries, among others. The company booked revenue of roughly $2.1 billion in 2022.
Sunnyvale, Calif.-based Synopsys makes software that engineers use to design and test silicon chips used in everything from smartphones to self-driving cars and other forms of artificial intelligence. Synopsys’ customers include Nvidia, Advanced Micro Devices and Intel.
The companies have joined forces in the past. In 2017, they announced a partnership to integrate Ansys’ technologies with some of Synopsys’. It was meant to help overlapping customers of the two companies use their products more efficiently.
A deal for Ansys would also give Synopsys certain solutions around simulation and analysis that it previously wasn’t able to offer at scale, and ones that its customers require.