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ANSYS announced their intent to acquire Granta Design, a Cambridge UK-based firm globally known for their materials science knowledge and expertise. Privately held, Granta is estimated to have global annual revenues of approximately $20 million. No terms of the transaction were announced and it is expected to be completed by the end of Q1 of 2019. ANSYS will provide more details about the transaction and its potential impacts on their financial outlook after the acquisition closes.
While some people may use the expression “they wrote the book” on a topic, in Granta’s case that is literally true, with their founder Mr. Mike Ashby author or co-author of the leading textbooks on materials. Granta Design was spun out of Cambridge University in 1994 and today they claim to be the “largest company and R&D organization operating in the materials information technology market.” In a way, Granta has created a nexus for materials knowledge, bringing together materials information from a myriad of global technical sources, and organizing that knowledge for use by others both in industry and academia. Along the way they have become a key alliance partner for a range of product lifecycle management (PLM) solution and service providers. This is a great move for ANSYS, as material knowledge is an underpinning of simulation and analysis, made even more important by advances in materials design and new manufacturing techniques like additive manufacturing. One question that will be answered over time is how well Granta will be able to maintain it’s existing business relationships across the PLM Economy while serving ANSYS’ needs. Given ANSYS’ ability to navigate these co-opetition waters the outlook is positive. Congratulations to the ANSYS and Granta Design teams for this bold move.
