VELIZY-VILLACOUBLAY, France, June 14, 2018 /PRNewswire/
-- Dassault Systemes
(Euronext Paris: #13065, DSY.PA) today announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire a majority stake in
Centric Software, a privately-owned industry market
leader driving digital transformation with software innovation in the fashion, apparel, luxury and retail sectors. With this
investment, Dassault Systemes aims to accelerate the digital transformation of companies seeking
solutions for the increasingly complex development of collections that respond to today's on-trend and on-demand consumers,
representing a multi-billion dollar total addressable market.
Headquartered in California's Silicon Valley and with offices in 13 countries, Centric
Software provides product lifecycle management software solutions to more than 600 globally-recognized brands including ASICS,
Bass Pro, Belle China, Bestseller, Etam, Kate Spade, Loblaws,
Louis Vuitton, Michael Kors, Samsonite, Ted Baker, Tommy Hilfiger and others. In 2017, Centric Software grew over 60 percent for a revenue of $61 million and generated positive net income. Centric's industry-specific collaborative PLM platform is
used for merchandise planning, product specifications, materials management, product sourcing, cost scenarios, collection
management, calendar management and quality management, on desktop and also optimized for mobile devices, to increase efficiency,
accelerate time to market, and improve sales and product margins.
"As we are connecting the dots of the value network for customers in 12 industries and 70 segments, we understand the specific
needs of the sectors that launch their products by collection," said Bernard Charl es, Vice Chairman and CEO, Dassault Systemes. "Centric Software is joining
us with a market-leading, well-tailored, configurable PLM solution and a great team of experts fully dedicated to making these
particular customers successful. Together, we are going to accelerate their transformation with PLM and create even more business
value with our 3DEXPERIENCE industry processes. As we did for SOLIDWORKS 20 years ago, we will keep Centric Software
independently operated."
Today's consumers are more knowledgeable about products than ever before, quickly defining and following trends in a world
where the digital and physical converge. Competitive apparel and fashion brands are scrambling to meet their expectations for
on-trend and on-demand products by increasing the number of collections they produce each year and accelerating their launch. For
thousands of companies, this challenge requires last-minute decision-making and the need to reconfigure business processes
for product creation through market launch quickly without eroding margins or product quality.
"By partnering with Dassault Systemes, Centric Software will have the backing of a
world-leading innovation company," said Chris Groves, President and CEO, Centric Software. "Our
combined expertise in digital transformation, PLM and the 3DEXPERIENCE platform will allow us to accelerate the development of
market-driven innovations to help our customers develop a competitive advantage and fuel growth."
"I look forward to Centric Software partnering with Dassault Systemes to leverage two,
world-class, innovative companies as they enable, accelerate and deliver the most fundamentally disruptive, purpose-built
solutions for a vast yet radically underserved industry yielding compelling economic efficiencies of end-to-end digital
transformation," said Bandel Carano, Managing Director, Oak Investment Partners, an investor in
Centric Software.
Under the terms of the agreement, Dassault Systemes will acquire for cash a majority ownership
of Centric Software, which will be comprised between 58 and 69 percent depending on the Centric Software shareholders' election,
and an advance payment on the acquisition of the remainder of the shares, which will take place in 2020 and 2021. The total
consideration for the acquisition of 100 percent of Centric Software's equity will depend on Centric Software's revenue growth
and profitability in the two years to come, and will be comprised between four and six times 2019 and 2020 revenues.
Shearman & Sterling LLP acted as legal counsel to Dassault Systemes and Union Square
Advisors LLC acted as exclusive financial advisor and DLA Piper as legal counsel to Centric Software in connection with the
transaction.
Comments on this acquisition will be made during Dassault Systemes' Capital
Markets Day, which will be held on June 15, 2018. A webcast of the Capital Markets Day
including Centric Software acquisition comments and a Q&A will be available that afternoon by accessing http://www.3ds.com/company/finance/.
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For more information:
Dassault Systemes' industry solution experiences for the consumer goods & retail industry:
https://ifwe.3ds.com/consumer-goods-retail
Dassault Systemes' 3DEXPERIENCE platform, 3D design software, 3D Digital Mock Up and Product
Lifecycle Management (PLM) solutions: http://www.3ds.com
About Centric Software ( www.centricsoftware.com )
From its headquarters in Silicon Valley and offices in trend capitals around the world, Centric Software provides a Digital
Transformation Platform for the most prestigious names in fashion, retail, footwear, luxury, outdoor and consumer goods. Centric
Visual Innovation Platform (VIP) is a visual, fully digital collection of boards for touch-based devices like iPad, iPhone and
large-scale, touch-screen televisions. Centric VIP transforms decision making and automates execution to truly collapse time to
market and distance to trend. Centric Software's flagship product lifecycle management (PLM) platform, Centric 8, delivers
enterprise-class merchandise planning, product development, sourcing, business planning, quality, and collection management
functionality tailored for fast-moving consumer industries. Centric SMB packages extended PLM including innovative technology and
key industry learnings tailored for small businesses.
Centric is a registered trademark of Centric Software. All other brands and product names may be trademarks of their
respective owners.
About Dassault Systemes
Dassault Systemes, the 3DEXPERIENCE Company, provides business and people with virtual
universes to imagine sustainable innovations. Its world-leading solutions transform the way products are designed, produced, and
supported. Dassault Systemes' collaborative solutions foster social innovation, expanding
possibilities for the virtual world to improve the real world. The group brings value to over 220,000 customers of all sizes, in
all industries, in more than 140 countries. For more information, visit www.3ds.com.
3DEXPERIENCE, the Compass logo and the 3DS logo, CATIA, SOLIDWORKS, ENOVIA, DELMIA, SIMULIA, GEOVIA, EXALEAD, 3D VIA, BIOVIA,
NETVIBES and 3DEXCITE are registered trademarks of Dassault Systemes or its subsidiaries in the
US and/or other countries.
SOURCE Centric Software