ECAD Inc, Santa Clara, has agreed in principle to acquire its San Jose near neighbour, privately held SDA Systems Inc in an exchange of shares on a one-for-one basis once ECAD has split its own shares 1.09 for one. Both companies develop and market software for the integrated circuit computer-aided design market, but ECAD specialises in high-performance tools based on proprietary algorithms to speed specific tasks in the electronic design process and SDA in providing tools in a flexible integrated framework to streamline the overall design process. The value of the transaction is put at $10.5m; the pair look to complete by end-May.
