Company’s board to continue reviewing all potential strategic alternatives
Altium 365, a cloud platform for PCB design, developed by Altium. (Credit: Altium Limited)
Altium, a US-based electronic design software company, has turned down a $3.9bn takeover bid from Autodesk, citing that it had significantly undervalued the company’s prospects.
Autodesk, a US-based software company, had offered to acquire 100% of Altium’s shares at A$38.5 ($29.84) per share through a scheme of arrangement.
Altium is currently listed on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX).
The company stated: “Altium has a unique position in the electronics ecosystem and in the past unsolicited acquisition interest has developed from partnership dialogues with others in the ecosystem.
“As consistent with past unsolicited acquisition interest, the Altium Board will engage with interested parties in the context of an appropriate valuation of Altium and it will continue to review all potential strategic alternatives for the Company.”
The company said that its board is confident of its ability to implement its transformative strategy for the electronics industry and to achieve its 2025 financial targets.
It further stated that after moving to the cloud, it is now well placed to pursue market dominance and also industry transformation. The adoption of its cloud platform is said to be transforming its business model from maintenance-based subscription to capability-based SaaS subscription.
Headquartered in San Diego California, the company is engaged in making electronics design systems for 3D printed circuit board (PCB) design and embedded system development.
Its software is used by PCB designers and electrical engineers to deliver connected, intelligent products.
On the other hand, Autodesk develops software products and services to cater to the architecture, construction, engineering, manufacturing, education, media, and entertainment sectors. It has a market capitalisation of $62bn.
Autodesk had said that its proposed combination with Altium will advance its strategy to converge design and make via a unified design, engineering, and manufacturing cloud platform.
Furthermore, the company said that Altium’s solutions will complement its portfolio and create unique opportunities for customers.