Dassault Systèmes plans to acquire U.S. based scientific enterprise product lifecycle management (PLM) software company Accelrys for approximately US$750 million, the companies announced Thursday.
By combining its forces with Accelrys, Dassault Systèmes will enhance its PLM offerings, the company said in a statement.
The merger will boost capabilities in molecular chemistry from discovery to manufacturing and regulatory requirements of Dassault Systèmes’ life sciences, consumer packaged goods, high tech and energy, and advanced manufacturing industries offerings, it said.
Both Dassault and Accelrys offer PLM software. But Accelrys has specialized in scientific innovation lifecycle management, providing software optimized to manage scientific experiments. It aims to enable scientists to access, organize, analyze and share data to improve productivity while reducing cost and saving time from lab to market, according to its website.
The software of Accelrys in San Diego is used by major players in the pharma and biotech industries as well as in the consumer packaged goods and chemical industries. Its customers include Pfizer, Shell, BASF, Unilever and L’Oréal.
Together, Dassault Systèmes and Accelrys hope to deliver an “unmatched scientific PLM solution,” the companies said.
The plan for the takeover has been unanimously approved by the Accelrys board of directors and the transaction is expected to be completed during the second quarter of 2014, the companies said.
Dassault Systèmes will make an all cash tender offer for all of the outstanding shares of Accelrys common stock at a price of $12.50 per share, without interest, it said, adding that this represents a fully diluted equity value for Accelrys of approximately $750 million. Dassault Systèmes also intends to acquire any shares that don’t fall within the tender offer via a merger that will be effected as soon as possible after the closing of the tender offer, it said.