Bentley Systems

Bentley Systems Inc., of Exton, has filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission to sell as much as $172.5 million of its stock to the public. In its filing yesterday, Bentley, which makes software for large architecture, construction and engineering firms, said it would use the proceeds to fund a portion of its proposed acquisition of Rebis, a Walnut Creek, Calif., company that makes software for the manufacturing industry. Bentley, which is family-owned and one of the nation's largest privately held makers of industrial software, also said in its filing that $15 million of the proceeds would be used to repay a promissory note for a previous software purchase.

With a couple of hundred dot-coms carving out a new niche in its industry, Bentley Systems Inc. is starting to fight back. The Exton company makes software for architectural, engineering and construction projects. Its products help companies design, build and operate buildings, manufacturing plants, airports, highways, and other large structures. Bentley is a leader in the software end of the business, but in recent years the Internet has created a new battleground - online project management.

Until a few weeks ago, Bentley Systems, of Exton, was planning to open a Beijing office to boost sales of its computer-aided design (CAD) software in China. But in early February, Bentley executives learned that Chinese software "pirates" had hijacked one of the company's programs. Illegal copies were being sold openly, and even advertised in a computer journal, for thousands of dollars below Bentley's price. "There's not too much hope for our business when a buyer can get our software for peanuts from bootleggers," says Yoav Etiel, Bentley's vice president for product marketing.

Colin Kerr is what you'd call a creature of the city. He grew up in Powelton Village, went to Masterman, then Drexel, which he walked to from his parents' rowhouse. He was so good at computer programming that by the time he graduated in 2007, dream jobs awaited. He picked Bentley Systems, a family-owned software company in Exton, and this presented a problem for a guy who's never owned a car. Kerr figured out that, by taking his customized 27-speed bicycle on Regional Rail, he could make it to the office in two hours if he left his house at 5:30 a.m. He knew the commute was getting to him when he began sleeping under his desk on those nights when he worked so late that the trains ran infrequently.

Bentley Systems Inc. of Exton has received approval for a low-interest state loan of $583,000 to add a wing to its building in Eagleview. The company markets MicroStation, a computer-aided design package. More than 110,000 copies of MicroStation have been sold worldwide, according to a company statement. Bentley Systems qualified for the 2 percent loan under a state program to encourage research and development. The program is administered in Chester County by the Chester County Development Council.

With mac-and-cheese on the menu, there was a fair amount of jostling in the lunch line Tuesday at Bentley Systems Inc., of Exton. Quick eaters could find a pickup football game in the computer-software company's front lot. And in its auditorium, straws, paper clips, and hard candy were available to anyone who wanted to take a crack at the "puff-car" competition. All of which more than met Xander Leatherwood's expectations. "I didn't think it would be this much fun," he allowed as he knocked back a chocolate milk with company cofounder and chief executive officer Greg Bentley.

Bentley Systems Inc., a rapidly growing engineering software company, attracted more venture capital last year than any other computer-technology firm in the Philadelphia region. And the Exton company appears to be on its way to becoming a textbook example of how to attract venture capital, and when to go public. In this region, the $15 million it attracted, all from Bachow & Associates Inc. of Bala Cynwyd, was second only to OraPharma Inc. of Warminster, a dental-products firm that received $16 million.

Bentley Systems Inc., the Exton-based, $500 million (annual sales) construction and architecture software firm, says it will add 50 employees at its new Center City office over the next couple of years, in the first of what Mayor Nutter hopes will be a string of suburban firms opening city "gateway" offices for skilled staff who'd rather walk to work than fight the Schuylkill. Bentley customers are expected downtown at the Pennsylvania Convention Center on Tuesday for the company's "Be Together" users' conference.

Republican State Sen. Robert C. Wonderling has been named president and chief executive officer of the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce. Wonderling will replace former Gov. Mark S. Schweiker, who announced in January that he would leave at the end of June to head a unit handling businesses' back-office operations for privately held PRWT Services Inc. Wonderling, 47, who has been in the state Senate since 2003, has represented District 24, which comprises parts of Bucks, Lehigh, Montgomery and Northampton Counties.

Thomas Prescott Bentley, 66, of Pike Creek Valley, Del., a former mechanical engineer who was an active volunteer in his community and in the Lions Club, died Thursday at the Leader Nursing Home in Pike Creek Valley. Mr. Bentley was a founder and 20-year member of the Pike Creek Valley Lions Club. He served as its president in 1981, and was named Lion of the Year in 1984. He also was named a Melvin Jones Fellow of the Lions Club International Foundation. His positions included sight and hearing chairman, and youth project and recreational chairman.

Bentley Systems Inc., an Exton software developer focused on roads, bridges and other infrastructure projects, said revenues increased 5 percent to $550 million in 2012, from $523 million in 2011. Chief executive Greg Bentley - who described Bentley Systems as a "no drama company" on a conference call - said the Middle East and Africa were its fastest-growing regions last year. "We continue to be a motivated number-two" competitor to Autodesk Inc.'s Architecture, Engineering & Construction software business, he said.

IN THE REGION BET Investments buys Norristown apartments BET Investments Inc. , the Horsham investment company owned by Bruce E. Toll, a founder and former executive of the Toll Bros. luxury home builder, has agreed to pay $30 million, or $93,700 per unit, to purchase the 318-unit Curren Terrace Apartments, 1011 New Hope St., Norristown, from Home Properties . BET president Michael P. Markham said that the complex is 97 percent occupied, and that his firm will renovate the complex "in an effort to maximize rents.

Colin Kerr is what you'd call a creature of the city. He grew up in Powelton Village, went to Masterman, then Drexel, which he walked to from his parents' rowhouse. He was so good at computer programming that by the time he graduated in 2007, dream jobs awaited. He picked Bentley Systems, a family-owned software company in Exton, and this presented a problem for a guy who's never owned a car. Kerr figured out that, by taking his customized 27-speed bicycle on Regional Rail, he could make it to the office in two hours if he left his house at 5:30 a.m. He knew the commute was getting to him when he began sleeping under his desk on those nights when he worked so late that the trains ran infrequently.

Bentley Systems Inc., the Exton-based, $500 million (annual sales) construction and architecture software firm, says it will add 50 employees at its new Center City office over the next couple of years, in the first of what Mayor Nutter hopes will be a string of suburban firms opening city "gateway" offices for skilled staff who'd rather walk to work than fight the Schuylkill. Bentley customers are expected downtown at the Pennsylvania Convention Center on Tuesday for the company's "Be Together" users' conference.

A proposal to close just 850 feet of an Upper Uwchlan Township road has created a miles-wide divide in the community. Neighbors, more than 50 of whom packed a Monday night supervisors' meeting, opposed a plan to shut the stretch of West Township Line Road from Stockton to Pennsylvania Drives so that Bentley Systems Inc., an international software company, can expand its facilities. Bentley wants to create a "corporate campus environment" with land it owns on both sides of the road, necessitating detours.

With mac-and-cheese on the menu, there was a fair amount of jostling in the lunch line Tuesday at Bentley Systems Inc., of Exton. Quick eaters could find a pickup football game in the computer-software company's front lot. And in its auditorium, straws, paper clips, and hard candy were available to anyone who wanted to take a crack at the "puff-car" competition. All of which more than met Xander Leatherwood's expectations. "I didn't think it would be this much fun," he allowed as he knocked back a chocolate milk with company cofounder and chief executive officer Greg Bentley.

Republican State Sen. Robert C. Wonderling has been named president and chief executive officer of the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce. Wonderling will replace former Gov. Mark S. Schweiker, who announced in January that he would leave at the end of June to head a unit handling businesses' back-office operations for privately held PRWT Services Inc. Wonderling, 47, who has been in the state Senate since 2003, has represented District 24, which comprises parts of Bucks, Lehigh, Montgomery and Northampton Counties.

Shawn Pressley, project systems manager for Hill International Inc., shuttles between the Comcast Center, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, and other worldwide construction sites, tracking work crews, owners, vendors, supplies, bids, job changes and corrections, and the money flowing among them all. "My office is my laptop," said Pressley, checking work at the Comcast tower in Center City. "When I'm in the Middle East and I have to get information to our corporate office in Marlton or get it from someone in Spain, I used to have to look at e-mail, faxing and Fed Exing.

Shawn Pressley, project systems manager for Hill International Inc., shuttles between the Comcast Center, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, and other worldwide construction sites, tracking work crews, owners, vendors, supplies, bids, job changes and corrections, and the money flowing among them all. "My office is my laptop," said Pressley, checking work at the Comcast tower in Center City. "When I'm in the Middle East and I have to get information to our corporate office in Marlton or get it from someone in Spain, I used to have to look at e-mail, faxing and Fed Exing.

Bentley Systems Inc., of Exton, has filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission to sell as much as $172.5 million of its stock to the public. In its filing yesterday, Bentley, which makes software for large architecture, construction and engineering firms, said it would use the proceeds to fund a portion of its proposed acquisition of Rebis, a Walnut Creek, Calif., company that makes software for the manufacturing industry. Bentley, which is family-owned and one of the nation's largest privately held makers of industrial software, also said in its filing that $15 million of the proceeds would be used to repay a promissory note for a previous software purchase.