Dassault acquires engineering software firm SFE GMBH

VÉLIZY-VILLACOUBLAY, France—Design and Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) software giant Dassault Systèmes today announced the acquisition of SFE GmbH, a conceptual engineering and performance evaluation and optimization software firm.

The acquisition expands Dassault’s CATIA and SIMULIA applications, with the company saying the combined technology will help transition from early conceptual engineering and performance optimization to detailed body design.

The amount of the transaction was not disclosed.

“The combined SFE and Dassault Systèmes 3DEXPERIENCE platform capabilities will lead to complete coverage of the entire value chain for the transportation & mobility industry,” said Bernard Charlès, President & CEO, Dassault Systèmes. “From quick modeling to post processing analysis, to product performance simulation and shape optimization, the full design process is integrated. I see numerous places where this capability can bring value to other industries, not just transportation & mobility,” he said, promising immediate benefits to SFE’s long list of customers, including General Motors, Porsche, Fiat, Chrysler, Daimler, FORD, BMW and Volkswagen.

The transaction includes the purchase of SFE GmbH, its various products, SFE CONCEPT, as well as its acoustic and NVH simulation offerings, SFE AKUSMOD, SFE AKUSRAIL, and SFE MECOSA.

“Today’s acquisition of SFE, one of BMW’s partners, by Dassault Systèmes, another major BMW partner, is good news. I can see the value it will bring,” said Detlef Helm, BMW Group. “The SFE CONCEPT solution has been used for many years at BMW within the full vehicle development field for functional assessment, validation and the generation of models for pre-concept development.”

Dassault Systèmes, is an engineering software firm with 170,000 customers of all sizes, in all industries, in more than 140 countries.