I heard it takes about 3-4 weeks to feel comfortable when switching from one code to another. So to me, this has little effect. As a user, i hope this makes MAINTENANCE and package/software prices at least 30-40% cheaper. There. (And not more expensive in any thinkable way!)

Staffs in former two developers might experience downsizing obviously. If they can't jump to competitor company, where else can they go?

Scientists (or gurus) in charge of developing the foundation of crucial elements in the former codes however, are yet to feedback/react openly in here. Would they?

Business heads in the two companies, surely must be happy on their end I think or this wouldn't take place.

Anyway, there are too many CFD softwares out there. People keep on coming with so many codes like it's that easy and in line with market demand.

Jag, You have a very good question. Its a shell game where Ansys is a money printing machine. First of all they can use Fluent's own profits to pay back the bank loans over a couple of years. 2nd when you add Fluent's revenues to Ansys, instantly Ansys has larger total income and profits, which means that its stock is worth more, which means it can issue more stock or sell some and use that money either to pay off debt or buy yet another company. They have been doing this for years. They don't grow their products. They just keep buying companies and grow by adding another business. I don't believe the numbers are inflated. When anyone buys a business, they generally pay some multiplier of the annual revenue, usually the more profitable the business, the bigger the multiplier.

Some short considerations. The amount of the transaction is considerable, and the number of employees involved as well. It is sure, it is long time Ansys and Fluent were dealing with the acquisition, then the action by Ansys could not be so hostile as it appears.

Merging (by acquisition) of high technology companies competing in the same field is not a surprise: for example refer to the AspenTech and Hysys, for process simulators, some years ago (these softwares are still alive, perhaps thanks to the AntiTrust regulations). Anyway, except very rare cases, one of the main reasons is due to a contraction of the market, or to a market growth under the expectations.

The heart of such a companies are engineers and scientists, not raw materials or production plants: they are born and die when technical teams join and break. It should not be a surprise if a NewFluent... The crucial question is: Will Fluent's engineers sell themselves to the new owner?

If you believe that Fluent and Ansys are fast-growing and market-leading companies in an emerging field of technology then those valuations are not at all unrealisticly high. You can even say that they are quite low.

The average price/sales number in the tech sector is around 5 on Nasdaq I think. Microsoft has a price over sales just below 7! The S&P 500 index (a very wide index with all kind of companies) has an average price over sales just below 3.

If these valuations are realistic is another question of course, but that question should be asked about the whole stock-market.