Parametric Technologies Corp., a maker of CAD and process management software, has hung out a $2 billion price tag and is looking for a buyer, a recent Financial Times story reported, citing sources close to the action. A PTC spokeswoman would not comment on the story, but speculation and questions have begun to percolate through the industry, including whether an acquisition would make sense, whether the putative price is right, and who the best bidder might be.
The Financial Times reported on Saturday that PTC has hired Goldman Sachs as an adviser and is in the early stages of identifying potential buyers. When contacted by Managing Automation, PTC declined to discuss the report. “The company does not comment on speculation regarding M&A activity,” said spokeswoman Nicole Rowe. Rowe did say, however, that the company is healthy and stable, having recently raised its guidance for the fourth quarter, which will close Sept. 30. It is also on track to be a $1 billion company in fiscal 2008, she said.
The company has not topped $1 billion in annual sales since 1999. The revenue resurgence is a direct result of some of the growth initiatives the company put in place in 2004. “We basically set a goal of $1 billion as a revenue target, and with that we said we would do a couple of things: First, grow the product portfolio to meet increasing demands on customers; second, focus on indirect revenue through the VAR channel by deploying solutions to the small and medium-sized business market; and third, globalize operations,” Rowe said.
Over the past four years, PTC has acquired 14 companies — 12 of which were technology-focused buys. It has steadily upgraded products and recently won a major account with EADS, the maker of Airbus, to supply an enterprise-wide, cross-divisional PLM program based on PTC’s Windchill content and process management product.