Dive Brief:
- Chip design software maker Synopsys on Thursday said it has completed its acquisition of Ansys following final regulatory approvals from China this week.
- The transaction, valued at $35 billion, builds on a seven-year partnership between the U.S.-based companies as they look to leverage their strengths to become a leader in silicon-to-systems design, according to a January 2024 investor presentation. Pennsylvania-based Ansys is a developer of engineering simulation and analysis software.
- The deal has been 18 months in the making as Synopsys and Ansys looked to gain key approvals from countries overseas. Synopsys said the combination will meet demand for advanced software that fuses electronics and physics, augmented with artificial intelligence.
Dive Insight:
As products become more intelligent at a rapid pace, engineering teams are faced with a range of design complexities and cost pressures. Synopsys said it hopes to address these challenges with its latest acquisition.
“With Ansys now part of Synopsys, we can give engineers the industry’s most comprehensive solutions to design, optimize and virtualize not only the silicon, but also the entire system,” Synopsys President and CEO Sassine Ghazi said in a video message Thursday.
Automakers, for example, can now use the software to design and test their chips, chassis and other parts and systems before production begins with help from Ansys’ simulation and multi-physics technology, Ghazi said.
Synopsys plans to have Ansys’ technologies integrated within its software by the first half of 2026. The company said it is now positioned to service a $31 billion market.
Since the deal was first announced Jan. 16, 2024, Synopsys has faced a series of regulatory challenges along the way. While headquartered in Sunnyvale, California, the company has global operations across Europe, Asia and the Middle East and must meet certain requirements to operate internationally.
In December 2024, the U.K.’s Competition and Markets Authority flagged concerns that the merger could reduce choice for customers and result in lower-quality products with higher prices.
To address those concerns, Synopsys and Ansys agreed to sell certain businesses to Santa Rosa, California-based Keysight Technologies as a condition for the deal to proceed. U.K. regulators cleared the acquisition in March. Meanwhile, China has drawn out its approval process as geopolitical tensions rise against the United States over tariffs.
On June 30, Synopsys said in an update to investors that it had received approvals from all major jurisdictions except for China, and was in advanced talks with the country’s regulatory agency on the matter.
The company posted in an investor filing that it received final approvals on July 14, ushering in a new chapter for the software maker.
The acquisition is expected to achieve $400 million of cost synergies by the third year, and $400 million of revenue synergies by the fourth year, according to the investor presentation. Former Ansys leaders Ajei Gopal, who served as president and CEO, and board member Ravi Vijayaraghavan have joined Synopsys' board of directors, effective immediately.
