Bloomberg: Autodesk thinking about buying PTC

Late yesterday, Bloomberg reported that

Autodesk Inc. is weighing an acquisition of rival engineering-software provider PTC Inc., according to people familiar with the matter. PTC is also drawing interest from other industry players, and no final decision has been made by Autodesk, the people said. A deal for PTC would come against a backdrop of steady consolidation in the industrial software space, where demand is expected to grow with the increased adoption of artificial intelligence.

[I pasted that in case it disappears behind a paywall. Bloomberg, if you need me to remove the direct quote, tell me.]

I don't typically tell you about "people said" pieces, but it's Bloomberg, so it's likely that the unnamed "people" are reasonably well connected to one or the other company. Neither company is commenting on the report (as of 8am on 10 July 2025), which is only to be expected.

First: this is as likely to amount to nothing as it is to become an actual deal. Companies constantly investigate buying and selling; it's in every decision about any product decision. Is it better for us to buy (perhaps a PLM, as in the case of Windchill) or make (continue to pursue Vault and other products already in-house at Autodesk)? Product capability, installed base, sales reach, revenue potential, cross-selling and more all play into that decision.

Second, even if Autodesk decides to pursue this, it won't be simple. PTC's market cap before the news hit, which sent the share price up almost 20%, was $25 billion. To make the deal attractive to PTC's shareholders, Autodesk would have to offer more than that, which would likely mean borrowing for an all-cash deal or some combo of cash and stock, which likely would require shareholder approval. Given that Autodesk has been tussling with an activist shareholder, coming up with a deal could be challenging.

Third, Autodesk hasn't been making big deals in recent years. Last year, it acquired three companies for its AEC and media businesses: Payapps for $390 million, PIX for $270 million and Wonder Dynamics/Aether for $130 million. Payapps is for construction progress payments; PIX helps users manage collaboration around giant media files; Wonder Dynamics is for 3D animation and visual effects. As far as I can quickly tell, the biggest deal was for Plangrid in 2018, for something like $900 million. All far smaller than a PTC deal could be.

We can talk about product overlap, gaps, and whether this makes sense, but I keep coming back to the size of the deal. The big question is, does Autodesk have the desire to do such a huge deal?

Interestingly, though, and not to be overlooked, is Bloomberg's comment that "PTC is also drawing interest from other industry players." Bloomberg tantalizes with those words, and the longer piece doesn't add any clarity. What could Bloomberg mean? Who might the other industry players -- a Hexagon, as it spins out Octave to focus more on manufacturing? Or an industrial company like Rockwell Automation, that might want software margins, etc.? Still. More than $25 billion. A pretty hefty price tag, regardless.