The new private equity parent of Santa Ana’s MSC.Software Corp., said Wednesday it installed executives at the maker of simulation software for aerospace, military and industrial uses.
Palo Alto-based private equity firm Symphony Technology Group LLC acquired MSC earlier this week for about $390 million in cash.
Symphony on Wednesday said it named Dominic Gallello as chief executive officer and Jim Johnson and chief financial officer.
MSC makes software that helps engineers test their designs without building costly prototypes.
Gallello comes to MSC from Graphisoft SE, a Hungarian maker of architectural design software, where he was chief executive.
Johnson was most recently financial chief of Cerritos-based VG Holdings Inc., a video game maker that was acquired by Electronic Arts Inc. in 2007.
It’s unclear if Symphony will keep other MSC managers or if there will be further job cuts.
“Symphony is evaluating what the ultimate staff will be,” said a person familiar with the matter. “They are good at this type of transition.”
Symphony closed the deal on Tuesday after a drawn out bidding that involved two other private equity firms believed to be San Francisco’s Vector Capital Corp. and Golden Gate Capital.
Symphony in July first offered $338 million to take MSC private.
The two counter bidding private equity firms last month made three rival offers for MSC, with Symphony matching or topping each of them.
The buyout caps a decade of troubles for the company.
Distractions brought on by several government probes, acquisitions that didn’t pay off and failed turnaround attempts spelled the end for an independent MSC, which once ranked among Orange County’s biggest software makers.
MSC has seen spotty results in recent years and has spent long stretches mired in red ink. Sales have been on a continuous slide.
“MSC is a really great company, but it really hasn’t been managed in five years,” the source said. “Finally it’s going to be getting the attention it deserves.”
