Pittsburgh railroad tech company spends $2B buying up the competition and scores a major Africa contract 

The old adage “you have to spend money to make money” rings especially true in this month’s Money Moves.

Local railroad tech company Wabtec Corporation secured a nearly $250 million contract to support expanding its work in Africa, following recent promises to invest over $1 billion through acquisitions.

Another firm balancing the ins and outs of its cash flow, local simulation software company Ansys has sold off one of its businesses to address a regulatory hurdle, ensuring its $35 billion acquisition by Synopsys will proceed as planned.

Read on for more on these investments, plus other money moves, after the chart showing which companies are hiring in Pittsburgh this month. 

Wabtec invests nearly $2B in acquisitions, secures a $248M contract

Wabtec Corporation, a North Shore-based technology provider for the railroad industry, has made a series of announcements over the last three months to invest nearly $2 billion in acquisitions. 

In November, Wabtec announced a $110 million cash acquisition of two international firms: Fanox, a Spanish electrical equipment manufacturer, and Kompozitum, a Slovakian company specializing in carbon and graphite materials. Then in December, the company announced a $69 million cash acquisition of Bloom Engineering Inc., a Pittsburgh-based designer and manufacturer of industrial burners and combustion systems. 

Most recently, the company announced in January that it had signed a definitive agreement to acquire the safety technology division of Boston-based inspection company Evident for $1.78 billion by the end of the first half of 2025. 

While shelling out lots of cash for these endeavors, Wabtec also secured a contract to boost its global presence. 

Wabtec announced in January it had secured a $248 million contract with African railway development company Winning Consortium Simandou to provide locomotives for a 370-mile long railway connecting an iron-rich mine in Guinea to the Port of Morebaya. 

Ansys sells business to overcome regulatory challenge of $35B acquisition

Canonsburg-based simulation software company Ansys has announced the sale of one of its businesses to resolve a regulatory issue that threatened its $35 billion acquisition by California-based electronic design automation firm Synopsys.

In January 2024, Ansys revealed that Synopsys would acquire the company in a cash-and-stock deal expected to close in the first half of 2025. However, in December, the United Kingdom's Competition and Markets Authority raised concerns, claiming the acquisition would significantly lessen competition in the supply of specific semiconductor chip design and light simulation products. 

To address this, Ansys agreed to sell its design software business, PowerArtist, to simulation software company Keysight Technologies, Inc., for an undisclosed amount. Following the announcement, both Ansys and Synopsys confirmed that the acquisition is still on track to close as planned.

More money moves: 

• Wexford-based biopharmaceutical company Coeptis closed an additional $5.7 million in its final Series A offering, bringing the total to $10 million after an initial $4.3 million raised in June 2024.
• Local tech startup Skild AI is in talks with Japanese investment firm SoftBank for a $500 million investment, which would value the company at $4 billion. Skild AI is developing AI tech to control a variety of robots for various tasks.
• Pittsburgh-based edtech company Niche acquired Goodkind, a communication tool that connects students with universities, for an undisclosed amount. 
• UPMC Enterprises, the venture capital arm of the healthcare company, alongside other partners, invested over $150 million into three companies: Biotech firm Ouro Medicines, healthtech company Percipio Health and medical daycare provider Spark Pediatrics. It declined to comment on how much of the total came from UPMC Enterprises.
• Local renewable energy firm Exus Renewables secured $312 million in financing to build a solar and battery storage facility in New Mexico. Scheduled to be complete in 2025, the facility will provide power to a nearby Meta data center. 
• Westinghouse Electric, a Cranberry-based nuclear power company, was awarded a $5 million contract from NASA and the US Department of Energy to advance its space microreactor design, a compact nuclear reactor intended to provide power for space missions.
• South Side-based biotechnology company Carmell Therapeutics Corp. completed a $1 million stock-and-cash acquisition of skin and hair care business Elevai Skincare, Inc.
• Waterbottle manufacturer Welly, LLC secured a $600,000 state grant and $2 million loan from the Southwestern Pennsylvania Corporation to establish a $7.5 million manufacturing line in Plum Borough. The company expects to create 42 new full-time jobs and retain six full-time jobs because of the project. 
• Local technical staffing agency System One announced the acquisition of tech recruitment company Tech USA Companies for an undisclosed amount. The Maryland-based company will allow System One to expand its staffing services into industries like critical infrastructure, technology, life sciences and government. 
• Stratus Materials, a battery manufacturer in Point Breeze, secured nearly $3 million from the Department of Energy to develop cost-efficient, long-life batteries for electric vehicles.