meh. Adobe has long since joined the ranks of the megapublishers, along with Microsoft, IBM, et al. I have no emotional tie to their products anymore. Perhaps if there is also merger of products we might get improved products from them, but I doubt it. There was squirming too when Microsoft invested in Apple. I am glad they did, the management there was not up to the job (excuse the pun).
Alan On 8/10/2010, at 10:11 AM, Writer wrote: > NOOOOOOOO! > > *ahem* > > I found this article at > http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Adobe-share-soar-on-rumor-of-apf-4289626386.html?x=0 > > Barbara Ortutay, AP Technology Writer, On Thursday October 7, 2010, > 5:01 pm > > NEW YORK (AP) -- Shares of Adobe soared in heavy trading Thursday on > a report that Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer discussed a possible > buyout of the company. > > A report posted in the "Bits" blog of The New York Times said > Ballmer recently met with Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen to talk about > Apple's control of the cell phone market and how Microsoft and Adobe > could work together to fend off the iPhone maker. > > It was in this context that a possible buyout of Adobe by Microsoft > Corp. came up, according to The Times. Microsoft had no comment. > > In a statement, Adobe said it shares "millions of customers around > the world" with Microsoft, and "the CEOs of the two companies do > meet from time to time. However, we do not publicly comment on the > timing or topics of their private meetings." > > Adobe Systems Inc., based in San Jose, Calif., makes software such > as Photoshop and the Flash technology used for Web videos and games. > The company has been in a long-standing feud with Apple Inc. over > Flash, which Apple bans from its mobile devices such as the iPad and > the iPhone. > > An Adobe acquisition would be a huge one for Redmond, Wash.-based > Microsoft, whose last big purchase was in 2007, when it bought > aQuantive Inc. for $6 billion. A proposed deal to buy Yahoo Inc. the > following year fell apart when Microsoft withdrew a $47.5 billion > bid. Adobe's market cap is close to $15 billion. > > Gleacher & Co. analyst Yun Kim said a potential buyer would be > "great" for Adobe, which is looking to grow its annual revenue to $5 > billion in the next couple of years. It had revenue of about $3 > billion last year. > > But from Microsoft's point of view, it's unclear what parts of > Adobe's business they can use to get themselves ahead in the online > advertising market. > > Adobe ended the session up nearly 12 percent at $28.69, with trading > volume more than six times the average. The stock slid 14 cents to > $28.55 in aftermarket trading. Microsoft ended trading up a dime at > $24.53. >
