Infrastructure engineering software maker Bentley Systems Inc has said that it entered into an agreement to acquire Seequent, a global leader in 3D modeling software for geosciences for about $1.05 billion.
Software produced by Seequent is used for large-scale projects, including groundwater detection, road and rail tunnel construction, subterranean storage of spent nuclear fuel and geothermal exploration.
The acquisition of Seequent is expected to initially add approximately 10 per cent to each of Bentley Systems’ key financial metrics and is expected to be measurably accretive to Bentley’s organic growth rate, the company said on Thursday.
Upon closing, Seequent will operate as a stand-alone Bentley subsidiary, with Seequent’s current Chief Operating Officer Graham Grant, succeeding its retiring CEO Shaun Maloney, reporting to Bentley’s Chief Product Officer Nicholas Cumins.
Bentley’s established presence in China, and its mainstay reach across civil engineering sectors, is expected to accelerate Seequent’s expansion in new markets.
“We can be very confident about Seequent’s contribution to our shared future not only because of our product synergies but because we recognize in Seequent’s trajectory an echo of the playbook that made Bentley Systems successful – except they have grown faster,” Bentley’s CEO Greg Bentley said in a statement.
Its established presence in mineral-intensive geographies such as South America and southern Africa is expected to accelerate Bentley’s overall opportunities in these regions with significant infrastructure requirements.
Seequent, founded and headquartered in Christchurch, New Zealand, has more than 430 employees in 16 office locations, serving geologists, hydrogeologists, geophysicists, geotechnical engineers, and civil engineers in over 100 countries, and the world’s top mining companies.