Stockholders vote overwhelmingly for Trimble bid. Autodesk, Bentley, and Nemetschek now have a stronger competitor in structural engineering.

Trimble has completed the final step on its way to acquiring structural engineering software vendor Tekla, with a positive vote from Tekla shareholders.

Approximately 99.46% of all shares were voted in favor of the acquisition. The high result will allow Trimble to initiate compulsory redemption of the remaining shares; the transaction was scheduled to be initiated today.

Best known for GPS devices, Trimble in recent years has become a diversified technology holding company, with a variety of acquisitions in AEC and GIS. Tekla, based in Helsinki, Finland, is the largest vendor of structural engineering software not acquired by one of the Big 3 AEC software vendors (Autodesk, Bentley, Nemetschek).

What we think

Tekla has become too big to ignore in AEC; their software is the standard on high-rise construction projects and other projects where structural steel is used. With Trimble as an owner, Tekla will have the resources it needs to compete well with the Big 3 of AEC software.