Stock Deal

Adobe Systems Acquires Macromedia in $3.4 Billion Stock Deal

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on April 18, 2005 - 9:12am.

San Jose, Calif. -- In a massive merger that will create new competition for Microsoft, Adobe Systems, a provider of publishing and Web software including Photoshop, Illustrator and Acrobat, announced on Monday that it will acquire Macromedia, developer of the Flash format, in an all-stock deal valued at $3.4 billion. The combined company will be able to offer media firms and other businesses a full suite of applications for creating rich media content for the Web and other platforms. "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 Adobe CEO Bruce Chizen. "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." The deal is expected to close in the fall of 2005.

Korean Firm Acquires Multimedia Messaging Firm Ztango in Stock Deal

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on October 21, 2004 - 7:54am.

Reston, Va. -- Korea-based WiderThan, a provider of mobile Internet technology, announced on Thursday that it has acquired Virginia-based Ztango, a provider of wireless multimedia and messaging services, through a stock swap transaction. Ztango has been a long-standing partner of WiderThan. The combined company will offer mobile entertainment services to over 30 wireless network operators reaching more than 210 million subscribers. The new U.S. company will be called "Ztango, a WiderThan Company." Ztango customers currently include America Online, AT&T Wireless, Cingular, Sprint, and Verizon Wireless.