By Milana Vinn and Anirban Sen
NEW YORK (Reuters) -Chip design software maker Synopsys said on Tuesday it would buy Ansys in a $35 billion cash-and-stock deal, snapping up the maker of software used in creating products from airplanes to tennis rackets of players like Novak Djokovic.
The transaction would be the biggest acquisition in the technology sector since chipmaker Broadcom took over software maker VMware last November in a $69 billion deal.
It could herald more big deals as a pick up in economic sentiment and some failed attempts by antitrust regulators to thwart deals embolden chief executives to place large acquisition bets.
The deal implies a per-share value of $390.19 and represents a premium of about 29% over Ansys’ last close on Dec. 21, 2023, the companies said.
Reuters was first to report on Dec. 22 that Synopsys was in talks to acquire Ansys. Ansys started exploring a sale late last year after getting inbound acquisition interest from design software firm Cadence Design Systems, according to people familiar with the matter.
Ansys’ shares were down 3.9% at $333 in premarket trading.
The deal comes just two weeks after Synopsys co-founder and Executive Chairman Aart de Geus handed over the chief executive reins to Chief Operating Officer Sassine Ghazi.
The pursuit of such a transformative acquisition amid a leadership change underscores the commercial appeal of Ansys’ software.
Ansys makes simulation software used by engineers, designers and researchers across industries like aerospace, defense, automotive and energy to help analyze products. The company’s products compete with Autodesk’s Fusion 360, AutoCAD and Dassault Systemes’ Solidworks.
Synopsys, which caters to major chipmakers such as Intel, Advanced Micro Devices and Nvidia, makes software that is used for chip design across several industries.
The deal would bring together Synopsys’ semiconductor electronic design automation (EDA) tools with Ansys’ simulation and analysis portfolio.
Both companies have seen their share price jump significantly over the past 12 months, amid an artificial intelligence boom.
They began their partnership in 2017 to offer solutions to chip designers for analyzing chips for quality standards to make the overall designing process efficient.
The transaction is expected to add to Synopsys’ adjusted earnings within the second full year post-closing, anticipated to close in the first half of 2025, and “substantially” accretive thereafter.
If the deal is called off under specific circumstances, including antitrust hurdles, Synopsys will have to pay Ansys a termination fee of $1.5 billion.
If Ansys ends the deal to accept another superior proposal, it will be required to pay the design software firm $950 million.
(Reporting by Milana Vinn and Anirban Sen in New York; Additional reporting by Chavi Mehta and Jaspreet Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Greg Roumeliotis, Bernadette Baum, Shounak Dasgupta and Sriraj Kalluvila)
