The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has opened an investigation into the proposed $35 billion acquisition of Ansys by chip design software manufacturer Synopsys.
While the CMA says a formal investigation has not yet been launched, it has issued an ‘invitation to comment,’ allowing interested parties to submit views on the potential impact the acquisition could have on the UK electronics market.
In a statement, the CMA said it is considering whether the transaction, if it were to go ahead, would “result in a substantial lessening of competition within any market or markets in the United Kingdom for goods or services.”
A deadline for submitting comments or the decision to launch a phase 1 investigation has not yet been disclosed by the anti-trust regulator.
Synopsys confirmed the $35bn cash-and-stock deal to acquire engineering and product design software firm Ansys in January 2024. The two companies have worked together since 2017, with president and CEO of Synopsys, Sassine Ghazi, saying at the time that the deal represented the “logical next step.”
While no formal investigations have been confirmed in other regions, the Federal Trade Commission in the US, the EU’s European Commission, and China’s State Administration for Market Regulation have all reportedly received requests to scrutinize the deal.
