By Sabela Ojea
Siemens is acquiring Altair Engineering in an equity deal that values the software and technology company at about $10.6 billion.
The German industrial giant said Altair shareholders will receive $113 per share in cash, representing a 19% premium to the closing price of Altair's common stock on Oct. 21, the last trading day prior to media reports about a potential deal. The price represents a 13% premium to Altair's unaffected all-time high closing price, Siemens said Wednesday.
Altair shares fell 4.3% to $104.00 in post-market trading. Through Wednesday's close, the stock has surged 75% in the past 12 months.
The acquisition would help Siemens add growth of about 8% to its digital business revenue, or 600 million euros ($649.2 million) when compared to the EUR7.3 billion reported in fiscal 2023.
"This strategic investment aligns with our commitment to accelerate the digital and sustainability transformations of our customers by combining the real and digital worlds," Siemens Chief Executive Roland Busch said.
The transaction, unanimously approved by Altair's board of directors, is expected to close in the second half of 2025 and to be accretive to earnings by the second year after closing.
Upon completion of the transaction, Altair's common stock will no longer be publicly listed. The company went public on the Nasdaq in November 2017.
The news came after Altair swung to a profit and reported higher revenue in the latest quarter.
Altair logged a third-quarter net profit of $1.8 million, or 2 cents a share, compared with a loss of $4.4 million, or 5 cents a share, for the same period a year earlier.
Revenue rose to $151.5 million from $134 million a year ago after software revenue climbed 16% to $148.7 million. Wall Street had forecast lower quarterly revenue of $146.6 million, according to FactSet.
Write to Sabela Ojea at sabela.ojea@wsj.com; @sabelaojeaguix
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
10-30-24 1822ET