Fair Trade Commission Reviews Concerns Over Competition Restriction in Synopsis and Ansys Merger

Inquiry of Competitor Stakeholders' Opinions

[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

The Korea Fair Trade Commission (KFTC) is seeking opinions from competitors and stakeholders on whether the merger between Synopsys and Ansys could exclude competitors or hinder innovation.

Synopsys, headquartered in the United States, is a company that develops software used for semiconductor design, while Ansys is a leading company in the simulation software field. The value of this merger is approximately $35 billion (about 47.04 trillion KRW).

On the 11th, the KFTC announced, "We plan to hear opinions from competitors, stakeholders, and experts regarding the potential for the merger to hinder interoperability of electronic design automation (EDA) software and the expected effects of the merger."

EDA refers to essential software for semiconductor design, similar to CAD used for architectural blueprints. Based on 2022 sales, Synopsys is the number one company in the EDA field.

The KFTC explained, "Especially in the design and production processes of advanced semiconductors, which will be core to the future semiconductor industry such as AI semiconductors (neuromorphic processors, etc.) and high-bandwidth memory, the importance of EDA software will increase. The related market size has also been continuously growing in recent years, so a comprehensive review is necessary."

The KFTC received the merger notification from both companies on May 31 and has begun the review process. The review period is up to 120 days after the notification, but this does not include the time required for supplementary data, so the actual period may be longer. For example, in the case of the merger review between Kakao and SM, the KFTC received the notification in April last year and completed the review after one year.

Synopsys has completed shareholder approval from Ansys and aims to complete the merger and acquisition process by the first half of next year.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.