Synopsys to buy engineering software company Ansys in $35-billion cash-and-stock deal

NEW YORK — 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 pickup 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.

The transaction will create a massive new player in a sector of the business software industry that is already highly consolidated, which Wells Fargo said in a note creates regulatory uncertainty. After the news, Synopsys shares were up 3.8% to $513, but Ansys shares were down 4.8% to $329.86.

The tie-up comes at time when leading companies like Nvidia and Intel are designing much more complex chips that are made of many pieces, as well as designing the massive computing systems that house the chips. Synopsys makes tools to design the chips themselves, a complement to offerings from Anysys, which makes software for evaluating larger electronic systems where those chips end up.

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. —