For Immediate Release :
Diehl Graphsoft Acquired by Nemetschek AG for $30 Million
Deal establishes US presence for European software giant
Columbia, MD, February 18, 2000 Representatives
of computer aided design (CAD) software
developer, Diehl Graphsoft, Inc. (Nasdaq DIEG), today
announced that it has been acquired by
IT/AEC software development firm, Nemetschek AG, for
$9.50 per share in cash in a deal valued at
approximately $30 Million. Under terms of the agreement,
Diehl Graphsoft will operate as a
wholly-owned subsidiary of the publicly held, Munich,
Germany based firm.
The move positions Diehl Graphsoft as Nemetschek AGís
sole US subsidiary, joining the
Nemetschekís network of more than 40 branches
and subsidiaries throughout Europe, including:
Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, France, Spain,
Bulgaria, Croatia, Poland, Russia, Slovak
Republic, Hungary, and Czech Republic. In keeping with
its stated objectives of superior earnings
growth and rapid expansion into international markets,
Nemetschek AG integrated or acquired seven
enterprises before its initial public offering (IPO)
in March 1999, and has acquired eight additional
enterprises since that time.
"We have a very clear acquisition strategy, which
is based on two principles. We only acquire very
successful companies which have proved to be the best
players in their segment of the market,î
explained Nemetschek Chairman, Prof. Georg Nemetschek.
ìWe integrate their first-rate products into
our existing product portfolio, thus creating a unique
range of products on the market. At the same time
the new associate and subsidiary companies contribute
with their sales and earnings,î he added. Diehl
Graphsoft officials say they plan to utilize their existing
distribution channels to market some
Nemetschek products, although Nemetschekís high-end
CAD offering, ALLPLAN, and Diehl
Graphsoftís mid-range CAD product, VectorWorks,
will not be consolidated and will continue to be
marketed through separate channels.
Diehl Graphsoft founder and CEO, Richard Diehl, says
the most immediate impact of the merger will
be the availability of Nemetschek AG products via Diehl
Graphsoftís international distribution
channels. ìThis acquisition allows both firms
to maximize the synergies each brings to the computer
aided design and systems integration markets. We will
all benefit from sharing our technologies and
advancing the bar via new product development across
several target markets,î offered Diehl. ìWe are
very pleased with this outcome and are excited about
the promise this merger holds,î he added.
Diehl Graphsoftís consistently strong sales
and its consistent advances in CAD technology make it a
valuable asset in our strategy for expanding our international
reach,î he said. ì This acquisition allows
us to immediately establish a strong presence in the
US AEC CAD software market and further expand
our international market position,î Prof. Nemetschek
concluded.
Diehl Graphsoft representatives report that the acquisition
will not affect its announced strategy of
expanding its product line and developing new, market
specific add-ons. The first new product
developed under this strategy, VectorWorks ARCHITECT,
was released at the MacWorld Expo in
January. Early sales figures indicate that the product
has been very well received by the architectural
CAD market, says Diehl.
Only CAD products by industry giants AutoDesk and
Bentley Systems currently offer a comparable
level of object-based technology merged with established,
general-purpose CAD.
Nemetschek AG, founded as a consulting firm in 1963
by civil engineer, Professor Georg
Nemetschek, is one of the largest architectural software
vendors in the world, with annual revenues
exceeding US $120 million (245 million DEM). Nemetschek
is one of the worldís largest full-solution
vendors of information and communications technology
for the design, construction and management
of buildings and real estate. Its flagship product, ALLPLAN,
is an AEC CAD market leader in
Germany and Europe.
Headquartered in Columbia, Maryland, Diehl Graphsoft
has been publicly traded since 1995, is a
leading international developer of CAD software and has
designed CAD software for the personal
computer since 1985. Its flagship product, MiniCAD VectorWorks,
is the best-selling CAD software
on the Macintosh platform and has a growing presence
in the Windows market. It is the most popular
CAD software in Japan according to independent nationwide
surveys conducted by
Kenchiku-Chishiki, a leading architecture publication
there. VectorWorks is used by design
professionals in more than 80 countries and is marketed
in more than 14 languages.
Another major feature of VectorWorks is its VectorScript
programming language which allows users --
even those with no formal programming experience -- to
program VectorWorks to automate routine
tasks or create customize tools and objects to meet their
individual design needs. The VectorScript
programming language is a complete, self-contained programming
environment built into
VectorWorks. The company reports that much of its new
product development will be based on this
programming environment and that it plans to promote
the VectorScript Development System to
third-party developers through its new VectorWorks Developerís
Program.
The Nemetschek group's software solutions are used
in more than 70,000 companies, in 53 countries
and are marketed in 13 languages.
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