Preactor Group, the Chippenham-based specialist software developer, has been acquired by German industrial engineering giant Siemens.
Preactor has been developing software solutions for efficient automated production planning processes for more than 20 years. Once the deal has been completed, Preactor will become part of Siemens’ industry automation division.
Siemens said the acquisition, financial details of which have not been released, will expand its international lead in the industry software market.
The Preactor Group was founded in 1992, and employs 70 people. Alongside its base in Chippenham, it also has offices in in North America, India, France, Spain and China.
Siemens industry automation division CEO Anton S. Huber said: “By acquiring the Preactor Group, we are further extending our position as an industry software supplier in the field of production and logistics.
“The solutions supplied by Preactor ideally complement our MES product portfolio. We will be extending our industry software offering to include APS as a key component in the field of Manufacturing Operations Management.
“With the Preactor Group, we are gaining a team of specialists with a proven track record as a preferred supplier and service provider for APS solutions the world over.”
Preactor founder Mike Novels, an engineering metallurgy graduate from the University of Bath, previously worked for UK industrial group Hawker Siddeley Group’s CIMulation Centre. He formed Preactor following a management buyout of the centre from Invensys shortly after it acquired Hawker Siddeley.
Preactor is the second Chippenham company to be snapped up by Siemens in the past few months. Invensys Rail, which makes signalling equipment for the global rail infrastructure industry, was acquired by Siemens in a £1.8bn deal in March. The sale by parent group Invensys followed a strategic review which concluded that consolidation in the signalling industry would limit the scope for expansion.
Invensys Rail was originally part of the giant Westinghouse industrial group based in Chippenham which at one time employed thousands of people on its large site close to the town’s railway station – now called Langley Park – making signalling equipment, brakes, semiconductors and other rail infrastructure.
Since the end of 2011, Siemens has acquired industrial software providers across every branch of industry.
