Siemens signed a definitive agreement to acquire UGS Corp., a provider of product lifecycle management software and services. The agreement was made between Siemens and the current owners Bain Capital, Silver Lake Partners and Warburg Pincus. The purchase price amounts to US $3.5 billion, including assumption of existing debt. According to Siemens’ press release, the activities of UGS are to be assigned to the Siemens Automation and Drives Group (A&D). A&D will become the first supplier for the manufacturing industries to provide an end-to-end software and hardware portfolio encompassing the complete lifecycle of products and production facilities. The transaction is subject to the approval by the relevant authorities. UGS, headquartered in Plano, TX, is mission-critical, enterprise business platform that helps companies innovate and grow by enabling them to digitally create, build and manage their products. UGS is a supplier to customers in the automotive, aerospace and defense, consumer goods, electronics and machinery industries around the world. UGS and Siemens A&D already started their business relationship in 2003 with joint projects addressing digital manufacturing technology. "With the acquisition of UGS, we combine its competence in the sector of digital factories with our leading know-how in industrial automation. This combination makes our customers’ processes faster, better and more cost efficient. With the unique combination, we underscore our position as a trendsetter in automation systems and bring this business into a new dimension," said Klaus Kleinfeld, president and CEO of Siemens AG. "The combination of Siemens and UGS is a clear game-changer in the global PLM industry due to our shared vision of ’Totally Integrated Automation,’" said Tony Affuso, chairman, CEO and president of UGS. "Our customers win through the backing of the long-term security of their system investments provided by one of the world’s largest and most successful and innovative companies. In addition, we are able to provide added value to Siemens’ customers by virtue of being the most practiced PLM provider in open systems, which eases integration with the Siemens technology already in place in all of our key markets."