Keysight Technologies is making the move to acquire real-time digital twin company ESI Group through a share buy-out which values the company at nearly $1 billion. The company said this week that it has already made a binding offer to some shareholders in order to acquire a controlling block of share capital and voting rights, and that after those transactions are complete, it will make a mandatory tender offer for the outstanding shares.
Keysight expects the controlling acquisition to close during the fourth quarter, with the tender offer to follow; ESI will ultimately be de-listed from Euronext Paris, where it currently trades.
The per-share price of 155 euros values ESI Group at a total of about 913 million euros ($996 million).
ESI focuses on sophisticated software prototyping for the automotive and aerospace markets, with the ability to simulate a product’s behavior during both testing and real-life use, according to Keysight. “ESI Group’s real-time digital twin solutions combine model-driven simulation with data-driven test to create virtual simulations, and its immersive industrial solutions enable workflow automation and virtual manufacturing,” Keysight added. With product development across many industries shifting toward virtualization, Keysight will bring ESI Group into its electronic design and test portfolio to expand its software prototyping capabilities.
“Keysight’s acquisition of ESI Group accelerates our strategy of providing software-centric solutions with virtual prototyping and advanced simulation capabilities,” said Satish Dhanasekaran, Keysight’s president and CEO.
“Over the past four years, our entire team has been dedicated to transforming ESI Group into a leading actor in the industrial software and simulation sectors,” said Cristel de Rouvray, CEO of ESI Group. “This combination with Keysight is a testament to the success of the work carried out over the years and will enable ESI to enter a new phase of its development.” De Rourvray added that Keysight’s “core values, vision, and ambition … are perfectly aligned with those of ESI Group: pioneers enabling innovation for industry. I trust this operation is the promise of an exciting and sustainable future.”
