Synopsys to acquire graphics software maker Ansys in $35 billion tech deal

Synopsys said it would acquire Ansys in a $35 billion cash-and-stock deal, combining two software firms.

Ajei Gopal, CEO, Ansys

Scott Mlyn | CNBC

Semiconductor design and software firm Synopsys on Tuesday announced it would acquire Ansys, an engineering and product design software firm, in a cash-and-stock deal valued at approximately $35 billion.

The acquisition is one of the largest tech deals announced in recent years.

Synopsys will pay consideration of roughly $390 per share: $197 per share in cash and roughly one-third of a Synopsys share for each Ansys share. The deal is expected to close in the first half of 2025, pending regulatory and shareholder approval.

Synopsys shares were up 3% on Tuesday morning, after a 12% slump since The Wall Street Journal reported in December that the two companies were in advanced talks. Ansys shares slipped 4% but were up more than 14% in that same period since December.

Ansys shareholders will own 16.5% of Synopsys following the merger, Synopsys CEO Sassine Ghazi said during a conference call following the announcement. The deal will be partially funded by $16 billion of debt financing, Synopsys said in a release. The remaining $3 billion non-equity consideration will come from Synopsys’ cash.

For the quarter ended October 31, 2023, Synopsys reported cash and cash equivalents of $1.4 billion.

The deal will not immediately be accretive until at least a year after the deal closes, Synopsys CFO Shelagh Glaser said.

“This is the logical next step for our successful, seven-year partnership with Ansys and I look forward to working closely with Ajei and the talented Ansys team to realize the benefits of this combination for our customers, shareholders and employees,” Ghazi said in a release.

Several deals have closed in recent months, including Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard and Broadcom’s acquisition of VMware. Cisco announced its $28 billion acquisition of Splunk in September, the company’s largest-ever deal.