On October 30, local time, Siemens announced that the company had signed an agreement to acquire Altair Engineering, a leading software provider in the industrial simulation and analytics market. This move strengthens Siemens’ position as a leading technology company and its leadership in the industrial software field.

Siemens AG stated that the combination of Altair’s capabilities in simulation, high-performance computing, data science, and artificial intelligence with Siemens Xcelerator will create the world’s most comprehensive AI-driven design and simulation product portfolio.

This transaction is expected to increase Siemens’ digital business revenue by more than 8%, adding approximately 600 million EUR to the 7.3 billion EUR digital business revenue reported in Siemens’ fiscal year 2023.

The transaction is anticipated to close in the second half of 2025. Altair, an information technology company headquartered in Troy, Michigan, USA, was listed on the Nasdaq in 2017.

Altair primarily provides software and cloud solutions in the fields of simulation and analytics, data science, artificial intelligence (AI), and high-performance computing (HPC). Its main products include HyperWorks, a simulation platform for structural analysis, fluid dynamics, and multidisciplinary optimization; SolidThinking, an innovative solution for product design supporting industrial design and engineering analysis; and Altair Smart Learning, a tool for machine learning and AI.

Originally an engineering consulting firm, Altair gradually expanded into the EDA field, adopting an acquisition strategy similar to other major players in the EDA industry. In 2017, Altair acquired Runtime Design Automation, a company providing tools for CPU, GPU, and system-on-chip (SoC) design engineers who rely on EDA tools.

In 2022, Altair announced the acquisition of Concept Engineering, a supplier of automatic schematic generation tools and electronic circuit and harness visualization platforms. In August 2024, Altair announced the acquisition of all outstanding shares of Metrics Design Automation Inc. (Metrics), further expanding its influence in the EDA sector.

In addition to Siemens’acquisition of Altair, the well-known EDA company Cadence has made successive acquisitions of Invecas and BETA CAE Systems. Notably, another EDA giant, Synopsys, acquired Ansys for as much as 35 billion USD, setting a new record in the industry and attracting wide attention.

Meanwhile, in recent years, facing the global wave of mergers and acquisitions in the EDA industry, Chinese EDA companies have been catching up. Through mergers and acquisitions, they are accelerating their growth. According to incomplete statistics, several domestic companies, including Empyrean, Semitronix, X-EPIC, Primarius, Rigoron, and S2C, have implemented acquisition strategies to expand and enrich their technology product lines, enhancing their core competitiveness and market influence.

(Photo credit: Siemens)