CIMdata PLM Industry Summary Online Archive
15 July 2004
Company News
Federal Trade Commission Publishes Proposed Settlement Agreement with Aspen Technology
Aspen Technology, Inc. ( http://www.aspentech.com ) announced that the Proposed Consent Decree to settle the proceedings brought against the Company regarding its acquisition of Hyprotech, Ltd., has been accepted for public comment by the commissioners of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). Final approval of the consent decree will be determined after a 30-day public comment period.
"We are very pleased to obtain this initial acceptance of a settlement agreement that would resolve the proceeding and eliminate the ongoing uncertainty and associated legal expenses of this case," said David McQuillin, President and CEO of AspenTech. "Under the agreement, we would be able to continue to sell and develop our comprehensive offering of process industry software products, including key products we acquired with the acquisition of Hyprotech. We believe this settlement is on terms favorable to AspenTech, its customers and its shareholders, and we are eager to move forward to maintain our commitments to customers to provide consistently excellent products, services, support and new innovations."
Under the proposed settlement agreement, AspenTech would agree to sell its operator training services business and rights to the Hyprotech product line to an FTC-approved buyer. AspenTech would otherwise retain rights to continue selling and developing all of the engineering software products acquired in its acquisition of Hyprotech, such as the HYSYS family of products, but not including AXSYS. AspenTech would retain all of its other products with the exception of the OTISS product. Additionally, AspenTech has entered into a definitive agreement to sell its assets and business related to the AXSYS product line to Bentley Systems, which is expected to close within the next ten days.
The order will not become final until after the commissioners issue their final approval following the public comment period. AspenTech would then be allowed to complete a sale to an FTC-approved buyer within a 60-to-90 day timeframe, as set out in the Proposed Consent Decree. If AspenTech does not complete a transaction within the relevant time periods, then the FTC may appoint a trustee to carry out the process.
"Regardless of the identity of the final buyer, AspenTech will continue to have full rights to all of our key engineering software products," continued Mr. McQuillin. "This important settlement means that our customers will continue to benefit from the delivery of our products, and we will work hard to maintain the level of services, support, and product investment our customers have come to expect from AspenTech."
After the 30-day public comment period is completed, the FTC commissioners will make a final decision on the settlement. The FTC decision would be automatically effective upon their final determination which would be published.
"Through our extensive efforts we have been able to work out a positive settlement that has avoided a divesture of Hyprotech," said David McQuillin. "Our product roadmap and enterprise operations management (EOM) vision remains intact and we look forward to continuing to deliver software solutions that provide our customers sustainable value for their businesses."
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