EDS Sells Product Lifecycle Management Business

Eager to pay down mounting debt, Electronic Data Systems Corp. will sell a profitable software development subsidiary to three investment firms for more than $2 billion in cash, officials said Sunday.

The Plano, Texas services giant said Bain Capital LLC, Silver Lake Partners LP, and Warburg Pincus LLC had agreed to purchase its UGS PLM Solutions unit in a deal expected to close within 90 days.

UGS PLM Solutions develops product lifecycle management tools including engineering design and simulation software, product development tools, and integrated pre-production and manufacturing management solutions. The unit has a number of high-profile customers in the automotive, aerospace, defense, and pharmaceutical industries.

The subsidiary, then named EDS PLM Solutions, was formed in September 2001 through the merger of Structural Dynamics Research Corp., Engineering Animation Inc. and UGS. In November 2003, the group changed its name to UGS PLM Solutions.

UGS PLM Solutions “is clearly outside of our core focus,” said EDS CFO Bob Swan, in a statement announcing the $2.05 billion deal. “As a result, we’re essentially divesting a non-core, non-strategic operation.”

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