Autodesk, the technology company behind 3ds max and other computer modeling and animation products announced today that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire competitor Alias, maker of such popular 3D animation and graphics packages as Maya, MotionBuilder and FBX. Autodesk will pay $182 million in cash in the transaction, which is expected to close in the next four to six months. Until then, each entity will continue to operate independently.
Charles Bellfield, senior director of corporate communications for Autodesk made the announcement Tuesday afternoon during a conference call. He was joined by Doug Walker, president and CEO of Alias, Buzz Cross, VP of Autodesk’s manufacturing business and Martin Van, VP of Autodesk’s media and entertainment business.
Walker commented, “[Alias] customers will benefit from, among other things, the nearly $300 million that Autodesk spends in R&D every year, which serves as a foundation of one of the most innovative companies in software. Customers will also gain combined product lines that will deliver them a single, streamlined workflow, along with internationalized solutions and best-of-class distribution.”
In addition to expanding Autodesk’s media and entertainment portfolio with Alias’ Maya, MotionBuilder, and FBX software, the acquisition will give Autodesk a critical foothold in the automotive and consumer products markets, according to Van. Alias Studio Tools is widely used by industrial designers and virtually every major automotive manufacturer in the world. “Bringing this technology to Autodesk will strengthen the manufacturing business by integrating conceptual design as a front end to Autodesk Inventor, our leading 3D manufacturing design application,” he said.
“We do not anticipate any changes with respect to planned product releases for both companies,” Van notes. Addressing the question of how both companies’ product lines will eventually be handled under Autodesk, he asserted, “In general, our direction is to maintain the products, both Maya and 3ds max, and focus on the functional integration between the two applications so that our customers can develop better pipelines and collaboration capabilities, ensuring that their content can be made as cost-effectively as possible.”
When asked about what’s going to happen with Alias’ current personnel, Walker replied, “What we’re going to need to do between now and the time of close, and then post-close, is build the strategy that will bring the two companies together. It’s only once we build that strategy that we’ll make decisions around what is the most appropriate organizational plan to really drive the value our customers are looking for.” Walker added that his tenure with Alias is limited. “With respect to me, personally, I will be in a transition role. I’ll be supporting this process for a long period of time post-close, after which time I’m expected to move on and leave the Alias organization.”
Cross said Autodesk intends to maintain the Alias facilities, headquartered in Toronto, noting “One of the really valuable people things you want to do is add a really strong developement and sales team, so we’re keeping people where they are, and they will be slotted into the logical divisions as we move forward.”
The acquisition is subject to a number of closing conditions, including regulatory approval. The conference call will be available online at 7:30 p.m. ET at http://www.autodesk.com/investors.
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