In order to expand the layout and penetrate the design process, the two giants in the EDA field may merge.

On January 5, local time, media reported that chip design software maker Synopsys has submitted an offer to acquire engineering software supplier Ansys, which has a market value of $30 billion, and the two companies are currently in exclusive negotiations, and if the negotiations go well, the agreement could be reached as soon as the middle of next week.

It is reported that Synopsys is mainly engaged in electronic design automation (EDA) software and chip IP related business, headquartered in Silicon Valley, California, United States, its software is mainly applied in the field of intelligent products; Ansys is one of the world’s leading suppliers of engineering simulation software, headquartered in Pennsylvania, USA, for applications in the aerospace, healthcare and automotive industries.

Generally speaking, before the chip enters mass production, it is necessary to carry out “trial production” that is, the flow sheet, because the cost of the flow sheet is high, so the simulation test is generally carried out on the EDA software first. Only verified EDA software simulation, wafer processing plants will recognize the relevant results.

At present, the market share of the “four big diamonds” in the EDA field can reach 80%. If the agreement is reached, the two companies, which are among the “big four” in the EDA field, will be combined into one, and the other two Cadence and Mentor will jointly present a “three-pillar” situation.

Why did Synopsys buy Ansys?

As one of the “Big Four”, Ansys has worked hard in the simulation market of EDA software for many years, and its EDA software has become one of the gold standards in the industry.

In recent years, Ansys has gradually expanded its business to physical fields such as fluid, heat, electromagnetic, and optoelectronics. Under the industry trend of “small chip”, Ansys’ simulation work in multi-physical fields is very precious.

In addition, Ansys’s position in the field of chip design is also irreplaceable. It is reported that Ansys mainly focuses on the field of chip verification and simulation; However, Synopsys and Cadence are more focused on the process of chip design, from architecture and function to schematic and layout design and verification.

In simple terms, the other three are mainly for chip design verification, while Ansys is for chip verification and simulation, establishing the “last line of defense” for chip design.

Therefore, to complete the final design of the EDA chip, it must be achieved by the “four big” cooperation.

Therefore, if Synopsys succeeds in acquiring Ansys, the combined entity will not only greatly enhance its simulation software production capacity, but also potentially enable the entire chip design process within the company.

It’s both M&A and development

As the craze of artificial intelligence continues to spread, the requirements for chip manufacturing processes are becoming higher and higher, and EDA software companies have to strengthen the manufacturing capacity of simulation software.

In fact, for EDA and even the entire industrial software industry, the merger between enterprises is

software companies are through mergers and acquisitions to achieve the expansion of the territory.

Some people believe that in the field of industrial software, the giant through the acquisition of high-quality enterprises to supplement their own weak direction is far more cost-effective than their own research and development, if integrated in place, you can achieve 1+1>>2 effect.

Therefore, it is also said that “the history of industrial software development is a history of mergers and acquisitions”.

Synopsys has made more than 20 acquisitions in its first 10 years, and has made even larger acquisitions in the 2000s. In 2000, Ansys also embarked on a path of mergers and acquisitions, completing 28 acquisitions between 1999 and 2020.