Written by: Jay Wrolstad, cio-today.com

Document specialist Adobe Systems (Nasdaq: ADBE - news) today announced the purchase of digital content provider Macromedia (Nasdaq: MACR - news) in an all-stock deal worth some US$3.4 billion that should help Adobe push into the mobile market and pave the way for an array of applications integrating text, audio and video.
Adobe, the company that created, and is synonymous with, the widely used PDF computer document format technology, contends that bringing Macromedia into the fold will spur development of software for creating, managing and delivering content and across multiple operating systems, devices and media.
Going Mobile
"This is all about gaining access to mobile devices," said Yankee Group analyst Michael Goodman. While Adobe currently is tied to the PC, he said, portable devices present a new set of software integration and security issues, areas in which Macromedia can provide assistance.
Goodman suggested that the merger is a smart move for both parties, because Macromedia has little experience with digital text applications while Adobe needs to move into the multimedia realm. "Each has strengths in different areas," he said.
And combining those strengths presents opportunities to take audio and video files beyond the Web and into PDF documents. "That's a completely new opportunity," said Goodman.
Merger Mania
This merger also reflects a trend among major software developers, following Oracle's (Nasdaq: ORCL - news) acquisition of PeopleSoft (Nasdaq: PSFT - news) and Symantec's (Nasdaq: SYMC - news) purchase of Veritas (Nasdaq: VRTS - news) in multibillion-dollar deals.
Under the terms of the agreement, which has been approved by both boards of directors, Macromedia stockholders will receive 0.69 shares of Adobe common stock for every share of Macromedia common stock.
The acquisition, which is expected to close in the fall, is subject to approval by the stockholders of both companies and government regulatory agencies.
In the combined company, Adobe chief executive Bruce Chizen will continue as CEO, and Stephen Elop, president and CEO of Macromedia, will join Adobe as president of worldwide field operations.
In morning trading, Adobe stock dipped on the news, while Macromedia stock rose a few points.