Siemens is further building its Vision 2020 to shape Digital Industrial Enterprise by expanding its unique portfolio for industrial software. Siemens and Mentor Graphics announced that they have entered into a merger agreement under which Siemens will acquire Mentor for $37.25 per share in cash, which represents an enterprise value of $4.5 billion. The offer price represents a 21 percent premium to Mentor's closing price on November 11, 2016, the last trading day prior to the announcement.

Siemens and Bentley Systems announced that they have formalized a strategic alliance agreement to drive new business value by accelerating digitalization to advance infrastructure project delivery and asset performance in complementary business areas. Siemens and Bentley Systems will initially invest at least Euro 50 million in developing joint solutions to enlarge their respective offerings for infrastructure and industry to the benefit of the end-customers.

Emerson is extending its presence in advanced flow measurement and control technologies with the acquisition of the Blending & Transfer Systems business of FMC Technologies, a leading provider of systems for lubricant, grease, fuel, and chemical blending applications within the refining and chemical industries. The Blending & Transfer Systems business will join the flow solutions segment within Emerson Automation Solutions, complementing industry-leading brands like Micro Motion and DeltaV.

Yokogawa Electric Corporation announced that it has completed the acquisition of Soteica Visual Mesa (SVM), a leading energy management technology provider. This announcement marks completion of the SVM acquisition as a wholly-owned subsidiary and initiation of the integration of SVM and the cloud-based Data-as-a-Service (DaaS) provider Industrial Knowledge (IK) into KBC Advanced Technologies (KBC), which was acquired by Yokogawa in April 2016.

Stratus Technologies, Inc., a leading provider of continuous availability solutions, announced that it has acquired Regal Maintenance Solutions, a third-party maintenance and support provider for Stratus products. The acquisition will help Stratus to provide additional resources to address the need to minimize unplanned downtime and future-proof automation systems.

​Tata Consultancy Services, a leading IT services, consulting, and business solutions firm, has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to pursue technology research collaboration with the University of New South Wales (UNSW). The agreement was signed by Ananth Krishnan, Chief Technology Officer, TCS, and Professor Brian Boyle, Deputy Vice-Chancellor Enterprise, UNSW, at the TCS Asia-Pacific Summit in Sydney.

Yokogawa Electric Corporation announced that it has invested US$900,000 in Bayshore Networks Inc., a U.S. technology innovator that is developing cybersecurity software for the Industrial IoT (IIoT). With this investment, Yokogawa will help Bayshore Networks continue development of its IIoT security technology, and will benefit from Bayshore's communications control and other technologies. The partnership is expected to help speed Yokogawa's development of the IIoT architecture needed to expand its solutions lineup.

The Industrial Internet Consortium (IIC), the global, member supported organization that promotes the accelerated growth of the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), announced it will collaborate with the IoT Acceleration Consortium (ITAC) to further the development of Internet of Things (IoT) in numerous industries. The goals of the cooperation are to promote the digital economy by preventing fragmentation and to harmonize various aspects of IoT.

Joint activities will include:

Bentley Systems, Incorporated announced that it has acquired the assets, colleagues, and services underlying ComplyPro, leading provider of UK-based managed services for requirements management of infrastructure capital projects. The new ComplyPro team at Bentley Systems will be led by its founder, Chris Rolison. Development of software and services will continue in Birmingham, UK, and sales activities will be merged into Bentley Systems' offices worldwide.

Schneider Electric announced the acquisition of MaxEAM, a software company with complementary applications that extend Avantis.PRO Enterprise Asset Management. The acquisition further solidifies the portfolio and adds domain expertise to Schneider Electric's existing team. This acquisition is designed to provide additional solutions to industrial organizations seeking to help maximize return on assets.