Ansys Inc., the Canonsburg-based software developer of advanced engineering simulation tech, is reportedly in talks with semiconductor software design firm Synopsys Inc. to be acquired for $35 billion.
That's according to reporting in the Wall Street Journal and in Bloomberg, which cited unnamed sources who are familiar with these conversations, though they are not authorized to speak publicly about them due to a lack of a finalized deal.
Per the WSJ, these "advanced" conversations have reportedly put the share price of Ansys' (NASDAQ: ANSS) stock at about $400 per share, a 16% premium over the stock's closing price of about $344 per share on Jan. 5.
Bloomberg and the WSJ note a deal could be struck as soon as this week.
"M&A rumors in our industry are not uncommon, and it is our longstanding policy not to comment on them," Pete Smith, manager of public relations at Ansys, said in an email statement.
Cara Walker, a spokesperson for Synopsys, said in a separate email statement that "Synopsys declines to comment on the rumor and speculation."
Should the deal close at its current theorized valuation, it'd mark one of the largest acquisition prices for a Pittsburgh-area firm in recent memory. It'd be more than double the $14.9 billion price that Nippon Steel Corp. is looking to pay to buy U.S. Steel Corp., which was once a leader in an industry that defined Pittsburgh for decades.
Synopsys, based in Mountain View, California, has a market cap of about $75 billion and posted revenues of about $5.8 billion for its most recent fiscal year, which ended on Oct. 31, 2023. The company primarily provides software and services for the semiconductor design and manufacturing industry.
Ansys, which employs about 600 workers locally out of its 6,000-person global workforce, has a market cap of about $30 billion and fetched revenues of about $1.4 billion from Jan. 1, 2023, through Oct. 31, 2023.
On Dec. 4, 2023, Ansys announced that Chief Financial Officer Nicole Anasenes will leave the company during the second quarter of 2024. She assumed the post in Dec. 2020.
"Nicole is one of the smartest and most capable executives I have had the pleasure of working with," Ansys President and CEO Ajei Gopal said in a statement at the time. "Nicole has helped drive our business and financial success. She has also played an instrumental role in our corporate transformation roadmaps."
