Addnode now owns two large VARs among the leading PLM and CAD developers.
Many PLM specialist companies in Sweden are value added resellers (VARs) and a member of the partner channels of major software developers. For example, Addnode-owned TECHNIA is one of Dassault Systèmes’ largest global partners. Additionally, Swedish PDSVISION is one of the largest globally acting VAR for PTC. But there is more to come: Addnode-owned Symetri (formerly Cad-Q) has announced that it is buying Team D3 making it one of Autodesk’s largest global partners.
Symetri is already one of Autodesk’s dominant European partners based on strong capabilities in both mainstream PLM, CAD, simulation and manufacturing on the one hand, and AEC, Building Information Modeling (BIM) and construction CAD on the other. In 2022 they also expanded substantially in the U.S. with the purchase of Microdesk. And now for a maximum of $59 million, Addnode Group bought Team D3.
Exactly where the purchase price ends up will depend on Team D3’s coming results. The fixed amount is $31 million, while the remaining $28 million represents a variable performance-dependent part of the purchase price.
This is no small entity Addnode/Symetri has acquired. The U.S.-based company has an annual turnover of $120 million. It is also an Autodesk Platinum Partner with 200 employees in multiple U.S. locations.
“By acquiring companies that digitize society and providing a growth platform for our subsidiaries, Addnode Group creates sustainable value growth. The complementary acquisition of Team D3 to Symetri is in line with our growth strategy,” commented Addnode’s chief, CEO Johan Andersson.
Symetri’s CEO, Jens Kollserud, adds that, “Symetri’s own technology, such as Naviate and Sovelia solutions, will add value for Team D3’s customers, and it will also be possible to expand our joint professional service expertise to our U.S. customers.”
400,000 Users in Europe and North America
Addnode’s Andersson added that the Team D3 purchase is a natural next step after the acquisition of Microdesk in 2022.
“Addnode Group’s subsidiary Symetri already holds a strong position as platinum partner to Autodesk in large parts of Europe within both the AEC and Manufacturing industries,” reads the press release. “The acquisition of Microdesk established Symetri in the US, particularly within the AEC segment and on the East and West coast. The acquisition of Team D3 now strengthens Symetri’s position both in the segments of Manufacturing and Process & Power, as well as in the Midwest part of the US.”
It is also clear that Team D3 strengthens Symetri’s position both within the manufacturing and the power and process segments, as well as geographically in the Midwest in the USA.
An even more interesting effect is the broad market size the company acquires. In total, Symetri will now serve more than 400,000 daily users, 25,000 customers and have more than 1,000 employees in 30 offices in Europe and the U.S.
Symetri’s Powerful Growth
Symetri continues its extremely powerful growth. As early as 2022, the Addnode subsidiary increased its revenue during the whole year from $170 million in 2021 to $288 million in 2022. Where 2023 ends up remains to be seen, but with the $120 million calculated turnover for Team D3, another huge revenue increase is expected—a prediction with which Jens Kollserud agrees:
“Team D3 is a strong complement to the previously acquired Microdesk in 2022, both operationally and geographically. Together we will be able to add more value to our customers in their ambition to work smarter and more sustainable,” he comments in the press material.
So, How Did Addnode Get Here?
It is clear that CEO Johan Andersson played an important role in this. When he took over as CEO of Addnode in 2017, the share price was just under $2, Today it is just about over $12. This is a significant growth in six years. In 2022, the company reported revenues to the equivalent of $585 million and a profit of $78 million (EBITA).
This is not only interesting as a strong financial development curve; it also provides a value gauge of how important industrial IT support, such as PLM, has become. Addnode picked this up early by depending on the PLM consultant TECHNIA, today a pillar of its PLM division, and Symetri.
Addnode, both under former CEO Staffan Hanstorp and Johan Andersson’s leadership, has clearly focused on this as a crucial element for rational industrial product development. Sharp skills and software arsenals on both the PLM and BIM sides—with all its sub-areas, such as CAD, Simulation, Analysis, CAM, PDM, IIoT and on the construction side with CAD and BIM and others—have made Addnode a market winner. This position was underlined by its extremely strong performance in 2022.
A Strong Line-Up
In Addnode’s annual report for 2022, Johan Andersson put a very strong line-up on the table, where all three pillars of the business—PLM, design management and process management—are doing well.
The first two cases are backed by both organic and purchased growth. In this, Andersson points primarily to Symetri’s purchase of the American company Microdesk and TECHNIA’s new acquisitions in 2022 of American, German and British PLM companies.
“We continue to deliver at a high level for both customers and shareholders. In 2022, demand in our main markets was also good. However, we are mindful of how an uncertain business environment and cost inflation may affect us. Our long-term assessment is still that the segments in which Addnode Group operates have strong underlying potential,” he says to engineering.com.
In Symetri’s case, the Autodesk partnership is the foundation. Autodesk is one of the world’s largest developers of CAD—particularly due to the development of solutions like AutoCAD, Inventor, the PDM system Vault and the Fusion cloud platform to mention a few. But Autodesk has also built up several platforms that broaden the systems’ area of use to include construction, with solutions such as AEC Collection, Construction Cloud and Autodesk Revit, which are world-leaders in BIM.
Within Addnode’s Design Management division, Symetri is a heavy unit. In and of itself, there is much in this subsidiary’s offering that is directly PLM-related, while other heavy pieces primarily deal with construction and infrastructure, and are thus closely linked to BIM and accounts for 56 percent of Addnode’s revenue.
TECHNIA, with Dassault Systemes’ software platform 3DEXPERIENCE in its portfolio, is the dominant subsidiary within Addnode’s PLM leg and accounts for around 25 percent of group revenues.
The Process Management division is Addnode’s third pillar, consisting of around 15 companies, such as Adtollo, Decerno, Ida Infront, Mittbygge, Sokigo and others with various IT specialties, and accounts for 19 percent of revenues.
This is an undoubtedly a strong line-up, and one which is largely based on deep partnerships with some of the respective markets’ most powerful software developers, alongside those companies’ proprietary software and strong consulting expertise.
Another Feather in Johan Andersson’s Cap
For Andersson, the purchase of Team D3 is another feather in his cap. Establishing a company in the competitive American market is not easy. To organically create a position is, in short, a challenge that is extremely difficult to implement. But establishing itself through acquisitions, presumably facilitated by tougher economic times, would normally be avoided so that takeover costs are not pushed to astronomical heights. The approx. $59 million that Addnode is now paying as a maximum also sounds like a good price, reflecting the tougher economic market conditions.
For their money, Andersson and his group get a company founded in 1999 which over time has developed into one of the largest Autodesk partners on the American market. Team D3’s focus is on the manufacturing, AEC and power and process industries. The customer base mainly consists of architects, engineers and construction professionals as well as property owners and operators.
The assignments are primarily centered around improving workflows and integrating project delivery technologies and services. As business consultants, they drive desired results by leveraging the latest in design, development and computer technology. Team D3 has multiple locations in the United States with headquarters in Springfield, Missouri.
The deal is scheduled to close by early July, and Team D3 is scheduled to be consolidated from July 2023 as part of Addnode Group’s Design Management Division, where its subsidiary Symetri is the dominant entity.
