Cadence Finalizes Purchase of Hexagon’s Design and Engineering Business

Cadence has completed its previously announced acquisition of Hexagon AB’s Design and Engineering (D&E) business, expanding its System Design and Analysis (SDA) portfolio and positioning the company to capitalize on the Physical AI opportunity.

The acquisition helps advance Cadence’s Intelligent System Design strategy by combining its multiphysics portfolio with Hexagon D&E’s presence in structural analysis, acoustics and multibody dynamics. The integration of Hexagon D&E’s flagship MSC Software solutions—including MSC Nastran and Adams—with Cadence’s multiphysics portfolio spanning electronics, computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and BETA CAE’s structural pre and post processing technologies, will enable Cadence to deliver an end-to-end multiphysics simulation platform.

“This acquisition marks a major milestone in advancing our vision for intelligent system design,” says Anirudh Devgan, president and CEO of Cadence. “By combining our industry-leading computational software and AI-driven design expertise with MSC Software’s world-class structural and physics-based analysis technologies, we’re empowering customers to push the boundaries of what’s possible—from autonomous systems and advanced robotics to the future of transportation.”

The combined portfolio positions Cadence at the forefront of the Physical AI era by coupling high-fidelity, physics-based simulation with AI-driven design exploration. This will enable customers to create virtual representations of real-world systems that predict system behavior under complex operating conditions. With advanced capabilities spanning motion, vibration, structural response and fluid-structure interactions, engineers can generate physically grounded data to train and validate AI models.

The purchase price of approximately €2.7 billion, which includes an estimated €150 million of transaction-related taxes owed by the acquired entities, is structured as 70% in cash and 30% in Cadence common stock.

Under its financial model, Cadence expects the incoming business to add an incremental $160 million to its 2026 revenue. On a non-GAAP basis, Cadence expects the transaction to be approximately 28 cents dilutive to its 2026 earnings per share, becoming accretive in 2027.

Visit Cadence’s website for more information on this acquisition.

Sources: Press materials received from the company and additional information gleaned from the company’s website.