PTC buys CoCreate for $250m

In what can only be described as a colossal computer-aided consolidation, US software developer PTC is to acquire explicit modelling software creator CoCreate Software for roughly $250m.

CoCreate, based in Sindelfingen, Germany, is privately held, has 280 employees and more than 5,000 customers globally.

PTC plans to integrate CoCreate's modelling solutions with the PTC Product Development System (PDS), a move that will give CoCreate customers additional product development capabilities including the ability to perform engineering calculations, dynamic publishing, visualisation, high-speed machining, and enterprise content and process management functions.

'The combination of PTC and CoCreate products will enable PTC to offer the manufacturing industry the flexibility to select the most appropriate modelling software for their business requirements,' explained Jim Heppelmann, executive vice president and chief product officer of PTC .

With the acquisition, PTC now has embraced all the accepted approaches to modelling – parametric, explicit, derived and 2D.

PTC plans to finance the acquisition and related expenses with a combination of $50m cash and $210m of debt from its existing credit facility.