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. Apple Computer licensed PostScript in 1985 for use in its LaserWriter printers, which helped spark the desktop publishing revolution. 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. 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; Aldus also owned the TIFF file format, transferring ownership to Adobe. 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. Adobe acquired GoLive Systems in January 1999 and obtained its CyberStudio HTML editor software, releasing it as Adobe GoLive. 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.
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, 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 Development.
Acquisitions
Number Company Country Acquired on Acquired for (USD) Adjusted for Inflation (USD) References1 Emerald City Software — — 2 BluePoint Technologies — — 3 LaserTools-Language TechAcquired from LaserTools — — 4 OCR Systems — — 5Nonlinear Technologies1992 — — p. 36.6After Hours Software1993 — — 7Compumation1994 — — 8Aldus Corporation $ $ p. 31.9 LaserTools — — 10 Photoshop — — 11Frame Technology $ $ 12 Ares Software — — 13 Sandcastle $ $ 14 HyWay Ferranti — — 15 DigiDox — — 16GoLive Systems — — 17 Fotiva — — 18 AccelioAcquired from Adobe Systems Canada $ $ 19 Syntrillium Software — — 20 Yellow Dragon Software-TechAcquired from Yellow Dragon Software — — 21 Q-Link Technologies, Inc. — — 22 OKYZ — — 23Macromedia $ $ 24 Navisware — — 25 Trade and Technologies France — — 26 Pixmantec — — 27 InterAKT — — 28Serious Magic Inc. — — 29Scene7 — — 30Virtual Ubiquity — — 31 YaWah — — 32Business Catalyst — — 33Omniture $ $ 34Day Software $ $ 35 Demdex — — 36EchoSign — — 37 Iridas Technology — — 38 Nitobi — — 39Typekit — — 40 Auditude $ $ 41 Efficient Frontier Technology — — 42Behance Inc. — — 43Neolane $ $ 44Satellite — —45Aviary — — 46Fotolia $ $ 47Mixamo — — 48Livefyre — — 49TubeMogul $ $ 50Sayspring — — 51Uru — — 52Magento $ $ 53Marketo $ $ 54Allegorithmic — — 55Workfront $ $ 56Frame.io $ $ 57ContentCal — — 58Abstract Notebooks — — 59rephrase.ai — — 60Film Impact — —61Semrush $ $
Indirect acquisitions 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 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.
Stakes Date Company Business Country Value (USD) Adjusted (USD) References Verity Computer consulting — — Crosswise Applications software — — Siebel Systems Application services provider — — Fractal Design Graphics software $ $ Skysoft Online digital music services $ $
Divestitures Date Acquirer Target company Target business Acquirer country Value (USD) Adjusted (USD) References Paracomp MacroMind Software — — — LuminousAdobe retained a 19.9% stake in Luminous Graphics software — — INSO MasterSoft Publishing software $ $ Creative Internet Solutions ChangeMedia Internet service provider — — Calian Technologies Ltd. Why Interactive Multi-media company $ $ Lotus Development Macromedia Pathware Internet software — —
Notes
See also List of largest mergers and acquisitions Lists of corporate acquisitions and mergers
References
External links Adobe Clipping Paths World Image Editing Services Clipping Path Photo Editing Service Image Post-Production Service