Adobe to buy Omniture for $1.8 billion

 

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By Reuters

Posted on 16 Sep 2009 at 09:01

Adobe will pay $1.8 billion for fast-growing business software maker Omniture, as the company looks to turn around declining sales.

Companies use Omniture's analytic software to analyse how consumers use their websites. It is the biggest provider of such services, competing with Google and other smaller players.

Adobe has agreed to pay $21.50 per share in cash for Omniture, a 24% premium over Omniture's closing price on Tuesday. The deal would be Adobe's second-largest acquisition after its $3.4 billion purchase of Macromedia in December 2005.

Omniture will become a unit of Adobe, headed by its current chief executive, Josh James, one the deal closes in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2009. Adobe will be paid a fee of $64 million by Omniture if the deal is terminated, according to a regulatory filing.

Adobe has been struggling over the past year, with the recession biting technology spending and customers declining to upgrade older versions of its programs.

The acquisition would give Adobe a new stream of revenue to offset that decline. Omniture charges customers fees based on monthly website traffic, so sales are less sensitive to economic swings than Adobe.

"There is no way Adobe can grow organically. This is a smart move," says Global Equities Research analyst Trip Chowdhry.