Wednesday, May 11, 2005

Adobe to acquire Macromedia

Adobe Systems Incorporated has announced a definitive agreement to acquire Macromedia in an all-stock transaction valued at approximately US$3.4 billion.

The companies plan to meet a wider set of customer needs and have a significantly greater opportunity to grow into new markets, particularly in the mobile and enterprise segments.

"Customers are calling for integrated software solutions that enable them to create, manage and deliver a wide range of compelling content and applications -- from documents and images to audio and video," said Bruce Chizen, chief executive officer of Adobe. "By combining our powerful development, authoring and collaboration software -- along with the complementary functionality of PDF and Flash -- Adobe has the opportunity to bring this vision to life with an industry-defining technology platform."

Under the terms of the agreement, which has been approved by both boards of directors, Macromedia stockholders will receive, at a fixed exchange ratio, 0.69 shares of Adobe common stock for every share of Macromedia common stock in a tax-free exchange. Based on Adobe's and Macromedia's closing prices on Friday, 15 April 2005, this represents a price of US$41.86 per share of Macromedia common stock. Upon the close of the transaction, Macromedia stockholders will own approximately 18 percent of the combined company on a pro forma basis.

In the combined company, Chizen will continue as chief executive officer and Shantanu Narayen will remain president and chief operating officer. Stephen Elop, president and chief executive officer of Macromedia, will join Adobe as president of worldwide field operations. Murray Demo will remain executive vice president and chief financial officer. Dr. John Warnock and Dr. Charles Geschke will remain as co-chairmen of the Board of Directors of the combined company and Rob Burgess, chairman of the Macromedia Board of Directors, will join the Adobe Board.

The two companies are developing integration plans and there will be additional details and information about the acquisition available at the Adobe website at later date.

"While we anticipate the integration team will identify opportunities for cost savings by the time the acquisition closes, the primary motivation for the two companies' joining is to continue to expand and grow our business into new markets," said Chizen.

Adobe also announced its Board of Directors has approved a post-acquisition stock repurchase program of US$1 billion. "After a review of the combined companies' financial position, our Board concluded that the repurchase program is consistent with our overall commitment to deliver value to our stockholders," Chizen added.

The repurchase program is in addition to the Adobe's existing stock repurchase programs and is expected to commence following the completion of the acquisition. The repurchases will be funded from available working capital.

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