Autodesk acquires Alias

San Rafael, Calif.-based Autodesk Inc. on Tuesday announced that it has signed an agreement to acquire Alias, Toronto, Canada-based makers of Maya, MotionBuilder and other software. The deal is valued at US182ドル million in cash.

Autodesk is the company behind AutoCAD, the standard in CAD software. The company also owns discreet, developers of Combustion, the compositing application used in cinema and video.

Carl Bass, Autodesk COO, describes the two companies as having complementary solutions for design and media customers. “By combining the technology and talents of our two companies, we will be better able to continue delivering solutions that address our customers’ complex needs,” said Bass in a statement.

Alias was, up until 2004, a subsidiary of Silicon Graphics Inc. (SGI). In April, 2004, it was announced that Alias was to be acquired by Accel-KKR, a private equity firm, assisted by Alias’ own management. The deal was valued at US57ドル.5 million. Alias then went on to acquire Kaydara, developers of MotionBuilder and creators of the FBX 3D authoring and interchange format.

The acquisition is subject to closing conditions and regulatory approval.