Siemens is acquiring Altair Engineering, a provider of industrial simulation and analysis software. By adding Altair’s mechanical and electromagnetic simulation features, Siemens aims to enhance its digital twin software. Through the acquisition, Siemens gains a physics-based simulation portfolio to add to its Xcelerator platform.

The acquisition is expected to add 8% to Siemens Digital revenue, increasing its €7.3 billion business by €600 million. Siemens expects synergies from cross-selling complementary portfolios. It also expects providing Altair full access to Siemens’s global footprint will double Altair’s revenue from $500 million to $1 billion.

“The addition of Altair’s capabilities in simulation, high performance computing, data science, and artificial intelligence together with Siemens Xcelerator will create the world’s most complete AI-powered design and simulation portfolio,” said Roland Busch, President and CEO of Siemens AG. “It is a logical next step: we have been building our leadership in industrial software for the last 15 years, most recently, democratising the benefits of data and AI for entire industries.”

“This acquisition represents the culmination of nearly 40 years in which Altair has grown from a startup in Detroit to a world-class software and technology company. We have added thousands of customers globally in manufacturing, life sciences, energy and financial services, and built an amazing workforce, and innovative culture,” said James Scapa, Altair’s founder and CEO. “We believe this combination of two strongly complementary leaders in the engineering software space brings together Altair’s broad portfolio in simulation, data science, and HPC with Siemens’ strong position in mechanical and EDA design.”