Aveva completes $5 billion OSisoft takeover as software firm’s CEO hails ‘British success story’

Software firm Aveva today became by far the largest listed UK software company after completing its $5 billion acquisition of US rival OSisoft.

The deal will see the FTSE 100 company, whose software is used in everything from the production of Danone yogurts to the machines roasting Starbucks coffee beans, nearly double in size - taking it to an estimated £1.2 billion in annual revenues and an estimated operating profit of around £330 million.

Following the acquisition of OSisoft, which helps firms analyse data from factories, Aveva will employ 6,500 people globally.

Aveva, which was first formed back in 1967 as a Government-backed University of Cambridge institute and is one of the UK’s oldest technology firms, raised £2.8 billion from investors last year to help pay for the takeover. It is one of the largest ever made by a UK tech company.

It comes three years after Aveva merged with French firm Schneider Electric, which now owns around 60% of the company. The merger saw the firm enter the FTSE 100.

Chief executive, Craig Hayman, who came back to the UK after spending 30 years in the US to run Aveva, told the Standard he believes the company is a true example of "a British success story".

He said: "For me I think Aveva is a British success story. It has British roots out of Cambridge and competes very well on a worldwide stage, and in three years has transformed itself... We have been on a bit of a tear over the last three years, and today is another step along the way."

The company said in an update to the market that “the acquisition enhances AVEVA’s ability to accelerate the digital transformation of the industrial world”.

The deal is expected to see tens of millions each year in cost savings. Hayman said: "We are going to be busy for the next 12 to 18 months on bringing the two businesses together.

"After that, we have a great business and we are very profitable, and we think there is a lot of opportunity.