Adobe to acquire Macromedia for $3.4 b

Adobe Systems has signed a definitive agreement to acquire multimedia company

Macromedia Inc for $3.4 billion in an all-stock transaction. California-based

Adobe said in a statement that it would pay Macromedia shareholders 0.69 shares

of its common stock at a fixed exchange ratio.

The deal is slated to give Adobe an opportunity to drive an industry-defining

technology platform, thereby delivering rich content and applications across

wide range of devices and operating systems. "The combination of Adobe and

Macromedia strengthens our mission of helping people and organizations

communicate better," said the press release from Adobe.

Adobe

is the provider of Acrobat and Photoshop software. By adding Macromedia's

Flash Web design programs the company intends to drive innovations that can

change the ways of interacting with information.

Macromedia's Flash Player displays moving images and sound on Web pages.

According to the company's website, Flash Player is touted to have been

installed on more than 97% of the Internet-enabled desktops and many popular

devices.

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