Microsoft Reason for DOJ Acceptance of Adobe Buyout!

 
Dec 08, 2005
by Judith Dinowitz

Another stage in the journey towards the Adobe buyout has been reached. As of October 13th, the Department of Justice gave clearance to the acquisition. According to Macromedia's press release, the closing of the deal still awaits regulatory approval in a few European jurisdictions, but the companies continue to anticipate that the transaction will close sometime this Fall.

Following the announcement, shares of Adobe rose 5.8 percent, and shares of Macromedia rose 6.5 percent.

Ironically, according to the Forbes.com article, competition from Microsoft was what spurred the Department of Justice to allow the deal to go through despite the fact that "Adobe's Acrobat document reader and Macromedia's Flash player application are reportedly installed on over 90% of all personal computers." The DOJ's fears of trust violations were allayed because Microsoft is developing competing technologies like Windows Vista, and the big M$ clearly intends to challenge Adobe and Macromedia for market dominance.

The timing of this approval, right before the biggest Macromedia conference of the year, is interesting. It would be quite a coup if Macromedia could announce that the deal is closing at MAX (but I don't think it likely.)

Adobe's Proposed Acquisition of Macromedia Clears U.S. Department of Justice Review (Macromedia.com, October 13, 2005)

Chizen's Adobe Gets U.S. DOJ OK To Buy Macromedia (Forbes.com, October 14, 2005)

Adobe, Macromedia Shares Up After U.S. Clears Deal (Reuters.com, October 14, 2005)

Privacy | FAQ | Site Map | About | Guidelines | Contact | Advertising | What is ColdFusion?
House of Fusion | ColdFusion Jobs | Blog of Fusion | AHP Hosting