Autodesk to acquire construction software firm PlanGrid

Autodesk on Tuesday announced plans to acquire the construction software firm PlanGrid for $875 million net of cash. The deal is Autodesk's largest acquisition to date.

PlanGrid's software helps general contractors, subcontractors and owners in commercial, heavy civil and other industries collaborate in real time on projects. It gives users access to project plans, punch lists, project tasks, progress photos, daily field reports, submittals and other features. More than 12,000 worldwide customers have used the mobile-first platform on more than one million construction projects.

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The acquisition should help Autodesk expand its presence in the construction industry, which represents a $12 trillion market opportunity, according to McKinsey. Autodesk plans to integrate workflows between PlanGrid's software and both Autodesk Revit software and the Autodesk BIM 360 construction management platform. Additionally, PlanGrid has a third-party ecosystem that's complementary to Autodesk's.

"There is a huge opportunity to streamline all aspects of construction through digitization and automation," Autodesk CEO Andrew Anagnost said in a statement. "The acquisition of PlanGrid will accelerate our efforts to improve construction workflows for every stakeholder in the construction process."

The deal is expected to close during Autodesk's fourth quarter of fiscal 2019, ending January 31, 2019.

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