February 23, 2026 — Leads & Copy — Cadence has completed its 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 Physical AI.
The acquisition combines Cadence’s multiphysics portfolio with Hexagon D&E’s structural analysis, acoustics and multibody dynamics. The integration of Hexagon D&E’s 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 a comprehensive end-to-end multiphysics simulation platform for integrated design and analysis solutions.
Anirudh Devgan, president and CEO of Cadence, said the acquisition advances the company’s vision for intelligent system design. He added that combining computational software and AI-driven design expertise with MSC Software’s structural and physics-based analysis technologies empowers customers in areas ranging from autonomous systems and advanced robotics to transportation.
The combined portfolio positions Cadence in the Physical AI era by coupling physics-based simulation with AI-driven design exploration. This allows customers to create virtual representations of real-world systems that predict system behavior under complex conditions. Engineers can generate data to train and validate AI models, improving the performance and reliability of intelligent vehicles and industrial systems, with capabilities spanning motion, vibration, structural response and fluid-structure interactions.
The purchase price of approximately €2.7 billion includes an estimated €150 million of transaction-related taxes. The deal is structured as 70% in cash and 30% in Cadence common stock.
Cadence expects the incoming business to add an incremental $160 million to its 2026 revenue. On a non-GAAP basis, the transaction is expected to be approximately 28 cents dilutive to its 2026 earnings per share, becoming accretive in 2027.
Cadence is a market leader in AI and digital twins, applying computational software to accelerate innovation in the engineering design of silicon to systems. Cadence solutions are used by semiconductor and systems companies to build next-generation products from chips to full electromechanical systems, serving markets including hyperscale computing, mobile communications, automotive, aerospace, industrial, life sciences and robotics. In 2024, Cadence was recognized by the Wall Street Journal as one of the world’s top 100 best-managed companies.
Source: Cadence
