Mentor Graphics Corporation (MENT)

Mentor Graphics was one of the three major suppliers of electronic design automation software, the tools engineers use to design and verify integrated circuits, printed circuit boards and electronic systems. Its products covered physical verification, IC test, PCB layout, embedded software and automotive electrical systems. The Calibre verification platform was considered an industry standard at leading chip foundries. Customers included semiconductor makers, electronics companies, automakers and aerospace firms.

The company was founded in 1981 by Tom Bruggere, Gerry Langeler and Dave Moffenbeier, three engineers who had worked at Tektronix. It was based in Wilsonville, Oregon, and went public in 1984, raising about $55 million. Over the following decades Mentor competed with Cadence Design Systems and Synopsys while expanding through acquisitions into embedded systems, emulation and automotive networking.

Mentor attracted activist investor Carl Icahn, who in early 2011 offered to buy the company for about $1.86 billion and later won board seats. The company remained independent and grew revenue to more than $1 billion a year, helped by demand for advanced-node verification tools and automotive electronics.

In November 2016 Siemens agreed to buy Mentor for $37.25 per share in cash, about a 21 percent premium, to strengthen its industrial software portfolio. The acquisition closed on March 30, 2017 and Mentor's shares were removed from Nasdaq. Mentor operated as a Siemens business for several years before being renamed Siemens EDA in January 2021.