List of acquisitions by Adobe

Adobe logo Adobe headquarters in San Jose

Adobe Inc. is an American computer software company headquartered in San Jose, California. In 1982, John Warnock and Charles Geschke left Xerox PARC and established Adobe to develop and sell the PostScript page description language.[1] Apple Computer licensed PostScript in 1985 for use in its LaserWriter printers, which helped spark the desktop publishing revolution.[2] The company has acquired 25 companies, purchased stakes in five, and divested six, most of which were software companies. Of the companies that Adobe has acquired, 18 were based in the United States. Adobe has not released the financial details for most of these mergers and acquisitions.

Adobe's first acquisition was Emerald City Software in March 1990. In August 1994, the company acquired Aldus Corporation, a Seattle-based software company credited with creating the desktop publishing industry with its PageMaker software.[3] The company's products were integrated into Adobe's product line later in the year, and re-branded as Adobe PageMaker and Adobe After Effects;[4] Aldus also owned the TIFF file format, transferring ownership to Adobe.[5] In October 1995, Adobe acquired the desktop publishing software company Frame Technology for US$566 million, and re-branded its FrameMaker software to Adobe FrameMaker.[6] Adobe acquired GoLive Systems in January 1999 and obtained its CyberStudio HTML editor software, releasing it as Adobe GoLive.[7] In May 2003, Adobe acquired Syntrillium Software and its digital audio editor software Cool Edit Pro, and merged it into its product line, re-releasing it as Adobe Audition.[8]

In the 1990s, Adobe purchased a minority stake in four companies, and it purchased a stake in one company in the 2000s. Adobe has also divested six companies, in which parts of the company are sold to another company. All of its divestments were made in the 1990s, with its most recent divestment made in August 1999 when it sold Macromedia Pathware to Lotus Software.

## Acquisitions

[edit]

Number  | Company  | Country  | Acquired on  | Acquired for (USD)  | References

|
|
|
|
|

1  | Emerald City Software  |  United States | March 19, 1990 | —  | [9]
2  | BluePoint Technologies  |  United States | June 20, 1990 | —  | [10]
3  | LaserTools-Language Tech[note 1] |  United States | June 1, 1992 | —  | [11]
4  | OCR Systems |  United States | June 29, 1992 | —  | [12]
5  | Nonlinear Technologies  |  United States | 1992  | —  | [13]
6  | After Hours Software  |  United States | 1993  | —  | [13]
7  | Compumation  |  United States | 1994  | —  | [13]
8  | Aldus Corporation |  United States | August 31, 1994 | $437,676,000 | [14]
9  | LaserTools  |  United States | September 9, 1994 | —  | [15]
10  | Photoshop  |  United States | 1995 | —  | [16]
11  | Frame Technology |  United States | October 30, 1995 | $566,567,000 | [17]
12  | Ares Software  |  United States | May 20, 1996 | —  | [18]
13  | Sandcastle  |  United States | March 14, 1997 | $3,500,000 | [19]
14  | HyWay Ferranti  |  United Kingdom | September 5, 1997 | —  | [20]
15  | DigiDox  |  United States | September 16, 1997 | —  | [21]
16  | GoLive Systems  |  United States | January 4, 1999 | —  | [22]
17  | Fotiva  |  United States | December 5, 2001 | —  | [23]
18  | Accelio[note 2] |  Canada | April 15, 2002 | $72,000,000 | [24]
19  | Syntrillium Software  |  United States | May 2003 | —  | [25]
20  | Yellow Dragon Software-Tech[note 3] |  United States | November 10, 2003 | —  | [26]
21  | Q-Link Technologies, Inc.  |  United States | May 3, 2004 | —  | [27]
22  | OKYZ  |  France | December 7, 2004 | —  | [28]
23  | Macromedia |  United States | December 3, 2005 | $3,573,000,000 | [29]
24  | Navisware  |  United States | December 16, 2005 | —  | [30]
25  | Trade and Technologies France  |  France | April 21, 2006 | —  | [31]
26  | Pixmantec  |  Denmark | June 26, 2006 | —  | [32]
27  | InterAKT  |  Romania | September 5, 2006 | —  | [33]
28  | Serious Magic Inc. |  United States | October 19, 2006 | —  | [34]
29  | Scene7 |  United States | May 31, 2007 | —  | [35]
30  | Virtual Ubiquity  |  United States | October 1, 2007 | —  | [36]
31  | YaWah  |  Denmark | September 15, 2008 | —  | [37]
32  | Business Catalyst |  Australia | August 31, 2009 | —  | [38]
33  | Omniture |  United States | September 15, 2009 | $1,800,000,000 | [39]
34  | Day Software |  Switzerland | July 28, 2010 | $240,000,000 | [40]
35  | Demdex  |  United States | January 18, 2011 | —  | [41]
36  | EchoSign |  United States | July 18, 2011 | —  | [42]
37  | Iridas Technology  |  Germany | September 8, 2011 | —  | [43]
38  | Nitobi  |  Canada | October 3, 2011 | —  | [44]
39  | Typekit |  United States | October 3, 2011 | —  | [45]
40  | Auditude  |  United States | November 1, 2011 | $120,000,000 | [46]
41  | Efficient Frontier Technology  |  United States | November 30, 2011 | —  | [47]
42  | Behance Inc. |  United States | December 21, 2012 | —  | [48]
43  | Neolane |  France | July 23, 2013 | $600,000,000 | [49][50]
44  | Satellite  |  United States | July 31, 2013  | —  |
45  | Aviary |  United States | September 22, 2014 | —  | [51]
46  | Fotolia |  United States | January 28, 2015 | $800,000,000 | [52]
47  | Mixamo |  United States | June 1, 2015 | —  | [53]
48  | Livefyre |  United States | May 10, 2016 | —  | [54]
49  | TubeMogul |  United States | November 10, 2016 | $540,000,000 | [55]
50  | Sayspring  |  United States | April 16, 2018 | —  | [56]
51  | Uru  |  United States | April 29, 2018 | —  | [57]
52  | Magento |  United States | May 21, 2018 | $1,680,000,000 | [58]
53  | Marketo |  United States | September 20, 2018 | $4,750,000,000 | [59]
54  | Allegorithmic  |  France | January 23, 2019 | —  | [60]
55  | Workfront |  United States | November 9, 2020 | $1,500,000,000 | [61]
56  | Frame.io  |  United States | October 7, 2021 | $1,275,000,000 | [62]
57  | ContentCal  |  United Kingdom | December 8, 2021 | —  | [63]
58  | Abstract Notebooks  |  United States | December 23, 2021 | —  | [64]

### Indirect acquisitions

[edit]

Adobe also owns the assets of numerous companies, through less direct means, through the mergers or acquisitions of companies later acquired by Adobe.

* Company of Science and Art (CoSA)
* Acquired by Aldus
* Allaire Corporation
* Acquired by Macromedia
* Live Software
* Acquired by Allaire Corporation
* Authorware Inc
* Merged to form Macromedia
* MacroMind
* Merged to form MacroMind-Paracomp
* Paracomp
* Merged to form MacroMind-Paracomp
* Altsys
* Acquired by Macromedia
* MacroMind-Paracomp
* Merged to form Macromedia
* iBand Software
* Acquired by Macromedia
* FutureWave Software
* Acquired by Macromedia
* Andromedia Corporation
* Acquired by Macromedia
* Presedia
* Acquired by Macromedia
* eHelp Corporation
* Acquired by Macromedia
* nHabit.com
* Merged with GoodHome.com (Scene7)
* Engage
* Assets acquired by Scene7
* Cascade
* Acquired by Scene7
* MidSystems
* Acquired by Scene7
* TrueSpectra
* Acquired by Scene7
* Touch Clarity
* Acquired by Omniture
* Visual Sciences, Inc. (formerly WebSideStory)
* Acquired by Omniture
* Offermatica
* Acquired by Omniture
* Mercado
* Acquired by Omniture
* Context Optional
* Acquired by Efficient Frontier
* Wrike***

### Failed acquisitions

[edit]

* Figma \- After 15 months of regulatory review, the acquisition of Figma for $20 billion was abandoned after no longer seeing a path toward regulatory approval.[65][66]

## Stakes

[edit]

Date  | Company  | Business  | Country  | Value (USD)  | References

|
|
|
|
|

September 21, 1992 | Verity  | Computer consulting  |  United States | —  | [67]
March 1, 1994 | Crosswise  | Applications software  |  United States | —  | [68]
April 19, 1995 | Siebel Systems | Application services provider  |  United States | —  | [69]
August 8, 1995 | Fractal Design  | Graphics software  |  United States | $2,000,000 | [70]
March 23, 2007 | Skysoft  | Online digital music services  |  Republic of China | $1,000,000 | [71]

## Divestitures

[edit]

Date  | Acquirer  | Target company  | Target business  | Acquirer country  | Value (USD)  | References

|
|
|
|
|
|

November 1, 1991 | Paracomp  | MacroMind | Software  |  United States | —  | [72]
March 28, 1996 | —  | Luminous[note 4] | Graphics software  |  United States | —  | [73]
February 5, 1997 | INSO  | MasterSoft  | Publishing software  |  United States | $3,000,000 | [74]
March 24, 1999 | Creative Internet Solutions  | ChangeMedia  | Internet service provider  |  United States | —  | [75]
May 20, 1999 | Calian Technologies Ltd. | Why Interactive  | Multi-media company  |  Canada | $4,360,000 | [76]
August 30, 1999 | Lotus Development | Macromedia Pathware  | Internet software  |  United States | —  | [77]

## Notes

[edit]

1. ^ Acquired from LaserTools
2. ^ Acquired from Adobe Systems Canada
3. ^ Acquired from Yellow Dragon Software
4. ^ Adobe retained a 19.9% stake in Luminous

## See also

[edit]

* List of largest mergers and acquisitions
* Lists of corporate acquisitions and mergers

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Blitstein, Ryan (2006-10-30). "How Adobe launched a revolution". San Jose Mercury News. Retrieved 2008-10-03.
2. ^ LePage, Rick (2007-09-11). "Opinion: Adobe's DNA is part of Apple". Macworld. Archived from the original on 2012-01-04. Retrieved 2008-10-19.
3. ^ Lewis, Peter H. (1994-03-16). "Adobe and Aldus Plan a $500 Million Merger". The New York Times. Retrieved 2008-10-03.
4. ^ Lewis, Jay B. (1998-04-13). "Adobe Makes a Move for the Future Fremont Site". Seattle Post-Intelligencer.
5. ^ "Inside Adobe's New Digital Negative Format". Macworld. 2004-09-30. Retrieved 2008-10-03.
6. ^ "Adobe Systems Announces Adobe FrameMaker for Windows 95 and NT". PR Newswire. 1996-06-03.
7. ^ Cohen, Peter (2008-04-28). "Adobe Discontinues GoLive". PC World. Retrieved 2008-10-03.
8. ^ "Adobe Audition 1.0 sounds like a new program, but this multitrack recorder/editor is the offspring of Syntrillium's Cool Edit Pro 2.1". PC Magazine. 2003-11-25.
9. ^ "Adobe Systems Inc acquires Emerald City Software". Thomson Financial. Archived from the original on 2012-02-14. Retrieved 2008-10-03.
10. ^ "Adobe Systems Inc acquires BluePoint Technologies". Thomson Financial. Archived from the original on 2012-02-14. Retrieved 2008-10-03.
11. ^ "Adobe Systems Inc acquires LaserTools-Language Tech from LaserTools Corp". Thomson Financial. Retrieved 2008-10-03.
12. ^ "Adobe Systems Inc acquires OCR Systems Inc". Thomson Financial. Retrieved 2008-10-03.
13. ^ a b c "Adobe Annual Report 1994" (PDF). Adobe. Retrieved 2023-12-06. p. 36.
14. ^ "Adobe Annual Report 1994" (PDF). Retrieved 2023-12-06. p. 31.
15. ^ "Adobe Systems Inc acquires LaserTools Corp". Thomson Financial. Retrieved 2008-10-03.
16. ^ "Adobe Systems Inc acquires Photoshop". CNET. Archived from the original on 2012-07-14. Retrieved 2010-02-15.
17. ^ "Adobe Systems Inc acquires Frame Technology Corp". Thomson Financial. Retrieved 2008-10-03.
18. ^ "Adobe Systems Inc acquires Ares Software Corp". Thomson Financial. Retrieved 2008-10-03.
19. ^ "Adobe Systems Inc acquires Sandcastle Inc". Thomson Financial. Retrieved 2008-10-03.
20. ^ "Adobe Systems Inc acquires HyWay Ferranti". Thomson Financial. Archived from the original on 2013-11-05. Retrieved 2008-10-03.
21. ^ "Adobe Systems Inc acquires DigiDox Inc". Thomson Financial. Retrieved 2008-10-03.
22. ^ "Adobe Systems Inc acquires GoLive Systems Inc". Thomson Financial. Retrieved 2008-10-03.
23. ^ "Adobe Systems Inc acquires Fotiva Inc". Thomson Financial. Retrieved 2008-10-03.
24. ^ "Adobe Systems Inc acquires Accelio Corp from Adobe Systems Canada Inc". Thomson Financial. Retrieved 2008-10-03.
25. ^ "Cool Edit Pro is now Adobe Audition". Adobe. Retrieved 2008-10-03.
26. ^ "Adobe Systems Inc acquires Yellow Dragon Software-Tech from Yellow Dragon Software Corp". Thomson Financial. Retrieved 2008-10-03.
27. ^ "Adobe Acquires Q-Link Technologies". Adobe. Archived from the original on 2004-05-07. Retrieved 2004-05-04.
28. ^ "Adobe Systems Inc acquires OKYZ SA". Thomson Financial. Retrieved 2008-10-03.
29. ^ "Adobe Systems Inc acquires Macromedia Inc". Thomson Financial. Retrieved 2008-10-03.
30. ^ "Adobe Systems Inc acquires Navisware". Thomson Financial. Retrieved 2008-10-03.
31. ^ "Adobe Systems Inc acquires Trade and Technologies France". Thomson Financial. Retrieved 2008-10-03.
32. ^ "Adobe Systems Inc acquires Pixmantec ApS". Thomson Financial. Retrieved 2008-10-03.
33. ^ "Adobe Systems Inc acquires InterAKT". Thomson Financial. Retrieved 2008-10-03.
34. ^ "Adobe Systems Inc acquires Serious Magic Inc". Thomson Financial. Retrieved 2008-10-03.
35. ^ "Adobe Systems Inc acquires Scene7 Inc". Thomson Financial. Retrieved 2008-10-03.
36. ^ "Adobe to Acquire Virtual Ubiquity". Archived from the original on 2008-09-09. Retrieved 2008-10-01.
37. ^ "Adobe Systems Inc acquires YaWah ApS". Thomson Financial. Retrieved 2008-10-03.
38. ^ "Adobe Buys Business Catalyst / GoodBarry". TechCrunch. 31 August 2009. Retrieved 2009-09-16.
39. ^ "Adobe To Acquire Omniture For Approximately $1.8 Billion". TechCrunch. 15 September 2009. Retrieved 2009-09-16.
40. ^ "Adobe Adds Leading Web Content Management Software to its Portfolio of Solutions to Create, Deliver and Optimize Customer Experiences". Adobe. Archived from the original on 2010-07-30. Retrieved 2010-07-28.
41. ^ "Adobe Acquires Demdex – Brings Audience Optimization to $109 Billion Global Online Ad Market". Omniture. Retrieved 2011-01-28.
42. ^ "Adobe Acquires EchoSign – Leading Web-based Signature Solution Joins Document Exchange Services Platform". Adobe. Archived from the original on 2020-08-03. Retrieved 2011-07-18.
43. ^ "Adobe Acquires IRIDAS Technology Company Extends Leadership in Professional Video with the Acquisition of Premium Tools for Digital Color Grading and Enhancement". Adobe. Archived from the original on 2011-09-25. Retrieved 2011-09-08.
44. ^ "Nitobi Enters Into Acquisition Agreement with Adobe". Adobe. Archived from the original on 2012-02-18. Retrieved 2012-01-20.
45. ^ "Adobe acquires Typekit". Typekit. Archived from the original on 2012-02-07. Retrieved 2012-02-10.
46. ^ "Adobe acquires video ad platform Auditude for $120M (updated)". November 2011.
47. ^ "Adobe Acquires Efficient Frontier To Boost Its Digital Marketing Solutions". 30 November 2011.
48. ^ "Adobe Acquired Portfolio Service Behance For More Than $150 Million In Cash And Stock". 21 December 2012.
49. ^ "Adobe Completes Acquisition of Neolane".
50. ^ "Adobe to Buy Neolane for $600 Million to Add Marketing Tools". Bloomberg. June 28, 2013 - via www.bloomberg.com.
51. ^ "Adobe Acquires Photo-Editing Platform Aviary". Techcrunch. 22 September 2014.
52. ^ "Adobe Completes Acquisition of Fotolia". Adobe Systems.
53. ^ "Unlocking The Power of 3D for The Creative Community – Adobe Acquires Mixamo". Adobe Systems.[permanent dead link]
54. ^ "Adobe Completes Acquisition of Livefyre | Adobe". 2016-05-10. Retrieved 2016-08-10.
55. ^ "Adobe is acquiring ad tech company TubeMogul for $540 million". Business Insider. Retrieved 2016-11-10.
56. ^ "Adobe Bets on Voice with Sayspring Acquisition". Archived from the original on 2018-04-18. Retrieved 2018-04-18.
57. ^ "Adobe acquires Uru, an AI startup that embeds ads in videos". Retrieved 2018-12-22.
58. ^ Miller, Ron (2018-05-21). "Adobe to acquire Magento for $1.68B". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2020-12-23.
59. ^ "Adobe gets its company, snaring Marketo for $4.75 billion". TechCrunch. Archived from the original on 2020-07-01. Retrieved 2018-09-22.
60. ^ Gagliordi, Natalie (2019-01-23). "Adobe acquires 3D texture firm Allegorithmic". ZDNet. Retrieved 2020-12-23.
61. ^ Miller, Ron (2020-11-09). "Adobe acquires marketing workflow startup Workfront for $1.5B". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2020-12-23.
62. ^ "Adobe to Acquire Frame.io". businesswire. Retrieved 2021-08-19.
63. ^ "Adobe buys social media marketing startup ContentCal". 2021-12-08. Retrieved 2024-02-13.
64. ^ "The next chapter for Abstract Notebooks: Adobe". www.abstract.com. Archived from the original on 2022-01-10. Retrieved 2022-01-10.
65. ^ Lombardo, Cara (2022-09-15). "Adobe to Buy Collaboration-Software Company Figma for About $20 Billion". The Wall Street Journal.
66. ^ Weatherbed, Jess (2023-12-18). "Adobe abandons $20 billion acquisition of Figma". The Verge. Retrieved 2023-12-18.
67. ^ "Adobe Systems Inc acquires a minority stake in Verity Inc". Thomson Financial. Retrieved 2008-10-03.
68. ^ "Adobe Systems Inc acquires a minority stake in Crosswise Corp". Thomson Financial. Retrieved 2008-10-03.
69. ^ "Adobe Ventures acquires a minority stake in Siebel Systems Inc". Thomson Financial. Retrieved 2008-10-03.
70. ^ "Adobe Ventures acquires a minority stake in Fractal Design Corp". Thomson Financial. Retrieved 2008-10-03.
71. ^ "Adobe Sys Software Ireland Ltd acquires a minority stake in Skysoft Co Ltd". Thomson Financial. Retrieved 2008-10-03.
72. ^ "Paracomp Inc acquires Macromind Inc from Adobe Systems Inc". Thomson Financial. Retrieved 2008-10-03.
73. ^ "Investor Group acquires Luminous Corp(Adobe Systems) from Adobe Systems Inc". Thomson Financial. Retrieved 2008-10-03.
74. ^ "INSO Corp acquires Adobe Systems-MasterSoft Prods from Adobe Systems Inc". Thomson Financial. Retrieved 2008-10-03.
75. ^ "Creative Internet Solutions acquires ChangeMedia(Allaire Corp) from Adobe Systems Inc". Thomson Financial. Retrieved 2008-10-03.
76. ^ "Calian Technology Ltd acquires Why Interactive Inc from Adobe Systems Inc". Thomson Financial. Retrieved 2008-10-03.
77. ^ "Lotus Development Corp(IBM) acquires Macromedia Inc-Pathware Bus from Adobe Systems Inc". Thomson Financial. Retrieved 2008-10-03.

## External links

[edit]

* Adobe
* Clipping Path
* Photo Editing Service
* Image Post-Production Service

* v
* t
* e

Adobe Inc.

Adobe World Headquarters

Software|

| Suites|

* Creative Cloud (Creative Suite)
* eLearning Suite
* Experience Cloud
* Technical Communication Suite

|

Desktop|

* Animate
* Acrobat
* After Effects
* Audition
* Brackets
* Digital Editions
* Director
* Dreamweaver
* Edge
* FrameMaker
* FreeHand
* Flash Player
* Flash Builder
* GoLive
* Illustrator
* InDesign
* Media Encoder
* Media Player
* Muse
* PageMaker
* Photoshop
* Photoshop Album
* Photoshop Elements
* Photoshop Express
* Photoshop Lightroom
* Premiere Pro
* Premiere Elements
* Premiere Express
* Reader
* Shockwave Player
* Voco
* XD

Server|

* LiveCycle
* Flash Media Server
* BlazeDS
* ColdFusion
* JRun
* PhoneGap Build

Technologies|

* ActionScript
* AIR
* Flash
* Flex
* Shockwave
* Font Folio
* Digital Negative (DNG)
* Authorware
* FlashPaper
* Portable Document Format (PDF)
* PostScript

Web services|

* Document Cloud
* Sign
* Fonts
* Solutions Network
* Photoshop Express
* Premiere Express
* Spark
* Stock
* Frame.io

Acquisitions|

* Aldus
* Aviary
* Behance
* Day Software
* Fotolia
* Livefyre
* Macromedia
* Magento
* Marketo
* Mixamo
* Neolane
* OCR Systems
* Omniture
* Scene7
* Serious Magic
* TubeMogul

People|

* Bruce Chizen
* Charles Geschke
* Shantanu Narayen
* John Warnock
* Del Yocam

* Category
* Commons

* v
* t
* e

Mergers and acquisitions by company

* Adobe
* Advania
* Alphabet
* Amazon
* Apple
* BlackBerry
* CA Technologies
* Cisco
* Dell
* Disney
* eBay
* Electronic Arts
* Embracer Group
* Gen Digital
* GoDaddy
* HP
* IBM
* Intel
* Juniper Networks
* Meta
* Microsoft
* Nokia
* Oracle
* Sony
* Take-Two Interactive
* Twitter
* Yahoo!

Category
*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template