Saturday, October 9, 2010

Microsoft buys Adobe Systems Inc?

On Thursday the shares of Adobe Systems Inc jumped sharply on new speculations that the company might be purchased by Microsoft Corp. The news was reported by the New York Times who said that Microsoft Chief Executive Steve Ballmer had met secretly with Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen at Adobe's San Francisco offices "recently"...




The two companies discussed the dominance of Apple in mobile phones market and considered several scenarios to withstand that and Microsoft’s acquisition of Adobe was at the agenda among the options.


Adobe’s shares climbed up as much as 17% to an intraday high of $30 before settling back. It closed up 11.5 percent at $28.69 on Nasdaq.


According to estimates such a deal could be worth $15 billion or more based on Adobe's current market value. The agreement would give Microsoft much advantage and renew its forces in a competition with Apple in Internet media and mobile industries.
An acquisition could make sense, Wall Street analysts said, as a way for Microsoft to integrate graphics and video capabilities into software for new phones and tablet computers, and to counter Apple, whose CEO Steve Jobs has railed against the quality of the Flash player and discouraged developers from using it in applications for the iPhone and iPad.
The only problem I see with a combined Adobe and Microsoft is that there would be a definite corporate culture clash. Microsoft is seen as a process-driven software bully and Adobe is seen as a free flow creative environment. If I was Steve Ballmer and I had a big budget for a major acquisition, then I would definitely set my sights on the company that makes the best photo and video editing software.


In your opinion, who would you buy if you were Microsoft and had $44 billion to spend?

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