British industrial software group Aveva on Tuesday announced it had agreed to buy US rival OSIsoft for $5 billion, as clients rush to digitalise their operations during the coronavirus pandemic. In a statement, Aveva pointed to strong growth this year at OSIsoft, "as the imperative for digital transformation has continued through the COVID-19 crisis". Aveva said it was "capitalising on the technological megatrends that are driving digital transformation of the industrial world as efficiency, flexibility, sustainability and resilience become increasingly urgent requirements for customers". Part of French group Schneider Electric, Aveva said the purchase would allow the British company "to accelerate the market adoption and expansion of OSIsoft Cloud Services and other cloud-based offerings". Demand for Aveva's software meanwhile has been "robust, due to its ability to drive efficiency, flexibility and sustainability for customers across a wide range of industries, with particularly good demand for Cloud solutions", the statement added. bcp/bmm