The combination of Fluent's and ANSYS' software products and services is expected to give ANSYS one of the most complete, independent engineering simulation software offerings in the industry, reaffirming and strengthening ANSYS' commitment to open interface and flexible simulation solutions that are primarily driven by customer demand and choice. With over 40 direct sales offices and 17 development centers, on three continents, the combined company will employ approximately 1,350 people.

"We are very excited about the industry leading technologies that Fluent adds to ANSYS' simulation capabilities," said James Cashman, President and CEO of ANSYS. "Both companies have a strong commitment to their customers and employees and share a passion for the development of innovative products and services and a history of world-class execution. This combination will strengthen these values and will allow us to better serve our customers by accelerating delivery of comprehensive, customer-driven engineering simulation solutions and by enabling us to provide high quality support throughout the world."

"The combination of Fluent's extensive portfolio of analysis, engineering design, preprocessing and simulation solutions with ANSYS' existing simulation capabilities creates a "best of breed" company that will continue to lead the evolution and innovation of engineering simulation by enabling customers to improve their product development processes, reduce time-to-market for new products and improve product innovation and performance," said Dr. Ferit Boysan, President and COO of Fluent.

The Fluent letter to customers reads:

Dear Fluent Customer,

We are very pleased to announce that we signed a definitive agreement for ANSYS to acquire Fluent. We expect to close the transaction on or around April 3rd, 2006 after we get the requisite approvals (government agencies, shareholders, and bondholders). This acquisition will combine the leading structural analysis software company with the leading fluid flow analysis software company. We will create a company focused on and capable of providing best-in-class CAE tools to our customers, integrated in a manner that will allow easy and rapid analyses of engineering designs.

Please be assured that you will see no detrimental changes in our interactions with you. We will continue with our industry-leading products and customer support. In other words, nothing will change until the transaction closes.

Once the transaction has closed, you will see an increase in the range of simulation capabilities available to you from the combined companies. Our development plans will most likely be augmented with additional features and capabilities that will come from access to ANSYS technology. We will also work to provide a close integration between Fluent and ANSYS products. More detailed information will be provided once the transaction is closed and we have had a chance to work on the integration plans.

We are very excited about this business combination since it will allow us to provide you with new technology faster and create close coupling between various multi-physics analyses capabilities that the two companies have. This will allow you to do the various engineering analyses much more efficiently. Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any questions or concerns.

Best Regards,
Bart Patel, CEO and Ferit Boysan, President and COO Fluent Inc.