Acquisition strengthens Ansys in simulation for mechatronics.

ANSYS is acquiring Esterel Technologies, a provider of embedded software simulation solutions for mission critical applications, for approximately €42 million ($53 million). The agreement also includes retention provisions for key members of management and employees. The deal gives Ansys new technologies for simulation of embedded systems.

Headquartered in Elancourt, France, Esterel has about 80 employees and reported revenues of approximately €15 million for fiscal year 2011. The deal is expected to close in the third calendar quarter of 2012. Ansys says it is still working to determine if the deal will be “material” (affect previous predictions) to revenue and earnings in 2012.

Esterel’s SCADE solution enables software and systems engineers to design, simulate and produce embedded software, the control code built into the electronics in aircraft, rail transportation, automotive, energy systems, medical devices and other industrial products that have central processing units. Modern products are increasingly complex systems of hardware, software and electronics. For example, today’s complex aircraft, rail and automotive products often have tens of millions of lines of embedded software code, from flight controls and cockpit displays, to engine controls and driver assistance systems.

Esterel software is often used when the embedded software is critical for safety and compliance reasons. Esterel provides software and systems engineers a solution to accurately model and simulate the behavior of the embedded software code to gain insight earlier in the design process and trace it to its requirements. Esterel certified code generators are currently compliant with more than 10 certification standards including aerospace, defense, rail transportation, automotive, industrial systems and nuclear plants.

Stronger offering in mechatronics

In buying Esterel Ansys strengthens its Simulation Driven Product Development vision to include the intersection of hardware and software. Having simulation tools for embedded software makes it easier for Ansys to be a full-service provider, providing insight into the behavior of embedded software as it interacts with the hardware (sometimes called the physical plant) including electrical, mechanical and fluidic sub-systems.