Altair to Acquire Controlling Interest in Hicare, Italian Developer of Business Intelligence Software

Altair to Acquire Controlling Interest in Hicare, Italian Developer of Business Intelligence Software

January 17, 2007

Innovative Database Architecture, Data Analysis and
Dashboard Tools Expand Altair's Enterprise Data Management
Solution for Business and Engineering
   

    TROY, Mich. and TORINO, Italy, Jan. 17
/Xinhua-PRNewswire/ -- Altair Engineering, Inc., a leading
global provider of technology to strengthen client
innovation, today announced it has entered into an
agreement to acquire controlling interest in Hicare Srl, a
privately held business intelligence software company
headquartered in Torino, Italy.  Specific financial terms
of the transaction are not being disclosed.

    Hicare is the developer of Lilith Enterprise and Web
Server business intelligence software, a robust
decision-making support system with unparalleled graphing
and reporting capabilities for interactive visualization of
information.  Built on a unique database architecture that
combines relational, hierarchical and multidimensional
database models, Lilith provides the ability to view and
analyze captured data from multiple perspectives and user
profiles.  Hicare's diverse client base includes notable
firms such as adidas, Diageo, Ferrero, Fiat, Levi Strauss
& Company, Porsche Italia and TNT Global Express.

    "At Altair, we focus on helping our clients manage
and gain insight from the growing volumes of corporate and
product performance data," said James R. Scapa,
president and CEO of Altair Engineering.  "With an
emphasis on technology for data analysis and visualization,
we see the integration of Hicare's technology as fundamental
for our clients to interactively search, mine, view and
dashboard complex business and engineering information for
rapid decision-making." 

    "The global development resources and support
infrastructure that Altair brings as part of this
acquisition will greatly accelerate the strategic
development of this groundbreaking technology and provide
world-class support for its users worldwide," said
Roberto Marchisio, president and co-founder of Hicare. 
"Our entire organization is excited to become an
integral part of Altair's vision for client information
capture and visualization."

    Lilith HyperCubes (data containers) are limitless in
size and can contain different types of homogenous and
non-homogeneous data.  In fact, a single HyperCube can
contain all the information for the entire enterprise. 
Uniquely positioned in the market, Hicare's HyperCube
technology allows daily refreshing of business data and the
ability to dynamically perform large-scale and complex
operations through an integrated calculation engine,
without the need to rebuild the HyperCube information.

    Altair plans to centralize Hicare's business activities
as part of its United States-based world headquarters
operations, and Hicare will continue the development of its
business intelligence software in Italy.  In addition,
Altair will begin leveraging and integrating Hicare
technology within Altair's commercial product offerings for
data management, computer-aided engineering and grid
computing.

    More information regarding this acquisition is
available at http://www.altair.com/hicare .

    About Altair Engineering

    Altair Engineering, Inc. strengthens client innovation
and decision-making through technology that optimizes the
analysis, management and visualization of business and
engineering information.  Privately held with more than
1,000 employees, Altair has offices throughout North
America, Europe and Asia/Pacific.  With a 20-year-plus
track record for product design, advanced engineering
software and grid computing technologies, Altair
consistently delivers a competitive advantage to more than
3,000 customers in a broad range of industries.  To learn
more, please visit http://www.altair.com .

    About Hicare

    Hicare is an emerging developer of advanced business
intelligence technology that enables companies to make
smarter decisions.  Hicare's Lilith Enterprise and Web
Server technology provides customers with a robust
decision-making support system with unparalleled graphing
and reporting capabilities for interactive visualization of
information.  With a diverse client base representing the
automotive, banking and finance, fashion, food product,
insurance, logistics, manufacturing and research market
segments, Hicare's customers include notable firms such as
adidas, Diageo, Ferrero, Fiat, Levi Strauss & Company,
Porsche Italia and TNT Global Express.  For more
information on Hicare, see http://www.hicare.com . 


    For more information, please contact:

     Michael J. Kidder 
     Vice President, 
     Corporate Marketing
     Altair Engineering, Inc.
     Tel:   [phone] X269
     Email: [e-mail]

     Massimo Gallo
     Manager, 
     Sales and Marketing of Hicare Srl
     Tel:   [phone]
     Email: [e-mail]


SOURCE  Altair Engineering, Inc.