Moves forward in the purchase of Abvent French and Swiss ArchiCAD business units.

Graphisoft, which was established in the early 1980s, is a developer of BIM software for architects and designers. It began offering its flagship ArchiCAD a few years after that, and the software has evolved from 2D/3D architectural CAD into a leading BIM offering. Headquartered in Budapest, Hungary, Graphisoft today has subsidiaries in Germany, the US, the UK, Spain, and Japan, with offices in Russia and Singapore. Intent on spreading its presence in Europe, the company recently signed a purchase agreement to acquire two ArchiCAD business units in France and Switzerland.

Those units are currently owned by AV-Tech, the holding company of the Abvent Group. AV-Tech was founded in 1985 by architects and has made itself into a provider of BIM technologies and services for the architectural, construction, design, and urban planning industries. Under the agreement, Graphisoft will acquire Abvent’s ArchiCAD business units. For years, Abvent has been a Graphisoft distributor—in France since 1985 and in French-speaking Switzerland since 1991—providing software as well as support and training to architects.

Abvent’s longtime relationships will strengthen Graphisoft’s position in the French-speaking markets, while providing architects and engineers in those regions with a direct link to Graphisoft.

The deal does not include Abvent’s businesses that are unrelated to ArchiCAD. Abvent currently develops and sells other architectural and engineering software, including Artlantis, BIMoffice, Linkioo, and Renderin. Abvent also serves as a distributor for products like Twinmotion and Rhino. This segment of the business will continue to operate under AV-Tech.