Electronic Data System’s Corps Unigraphics division is teaming up with Intergraph Corp to form a new company to address the emerging needs of the high-end computer aided design and manufacturing business for Windows-based design products. The deal is subject to the approval of both companies board of directors, but if approved it will see EDS having a majority stake in the company which the both organizations believe will make a major contribution to the computer aided design and computer aided manufacturing sectors. The EDS division will trade under the new company name which is yet to be decided, with Huntsville, Alabama-based Intergraph retaining its current business as its priority. Unigraphics was acquired by EDS in November 1991 from the then McDonnell Douglas Systems Ltd, and now employs some 1,500 people. The companies believe they need to respond to the growing number of two dimensional CAD users who are swapping to Windows-based three dimensional solid modeling systems such as Solid Edge and believes they can react quickly if they team up together. The new company will use EDS’s Parasolid, Iman and Unigraphic’s products along with Intergraph’s CAD products, including its data engine Solid Edge. Parasolid will work as a data pipeline between Solid Edge and the Unigraphic’s package to enable data exchange and integration across any enterprise. EDS Unigraphic’s European marketing manager, David Punter said the likely deal has come about as a result of the companies’ mutual interest in the CAD market, and believes together they will be able to make a big dent in it. Punter described the proposed deal as very exciting. Assuming everything goes to plan, it is likely that the new operation will be up and running some time in the new year, although a definite date has not been set.
