Merger Update: Synopsys/Ansys

Consultation on undertakings in lieu: Anticipated acquisition by Synopsys, Inc. of ANSYS, Inc.

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has opened a consultation on undertakings in lieu of a reference offered by the Parties to address competition concerns identified by the CMA over the anticipated acquisition by Synopsys, Inc. of ANSYS, Inc. (the Merger).

On 20 December 2024, the CMA announced that it would refer the Merger for an in-depth, Phase 2 investigation unless the Parties offered acceptable undertakings in lieu to address the CMA's concerns.

To address the CMA's concerns, the Parties have offered to divest Ansys' global business relating to its register-transfer-level power consumption analysis product, namely PowerArtist, and Synopsys' Optical Solutions Group, the latter comprising Synopsys' global optics and photonics software business.

On 8 January 2025, the CMA announced that it would look in detail at these offered undertakings in lieu. The CMA has until 5 March 2025 to consider whether to accept the undertakings in lieu, or a modified version of them. As part of this process, the CMA is now consulting publicly on whether the proposal is sufficient to address the competition concerns identified by the CMA.

Before reaching a final decision, the CMA is therefore inviting interested parties to make their views known. The deadline for responses is 26 February 2025.

The consultation on the offered undertakings in lieu and all other information relating to this merger investigation can be found on the dedicated case page on the CMA's website at Synopsys / Ansys merger inquiry.

In the event of media enquiries please email press@cma.gov.uk.