Accelrys Acquired By French Software Firm

Accelrys, a leading supplier of laboratory information management systems, has agreed to be acquired by Dassault Systèmes, a French specialist in product life-cycle management software. The stock transaction is worth $750 million.

The deal comes in a run of acquisitions in the scientific software market in which Accelrys has been an acquirer. Since 2010, the San Diego-based company has expanded its core Pipeline Pilot software, purchasing two electronic laboratory notebook companies, including market leader Symyx. Last year, Accelrys bought QUMAS, a supplier of regulatory and quality management software; ChemSW, an environmental, health, and safety management software firm; and Vialis, an information technology integrator.

By acquiring Accelrys, Dassault, part of the French conglomerate Groupe Dassault, will add chemistry and materials science software to its product life-cycle management line, which spans the life sciences, consumer packaged goods, high-tech, and energy markets.

“Accelrys is convinced that joining Dassault Systèmes will deliver transformational value to our customers by combining science-based innovation with product life-cycle management,” CEO Max Carnecchia says. Accelrys’s customers include BASF, Pfizer, DuPont, and GlaxoSmithKline.

Michael Elliott, head of the scientific software consulting firm Atrium Research, says that while he’s not surprised a product life-cycle management player eventually grabbed Accelrys, he expected a deal to occur only after Accelrys had successfully digested its string of acquisitions.