Macromedia was an American graphics and web development software company founded in the 1992 merger of Authorware Inc. (creator of Authorware) and MacroMind-Paracomp (creator of Macromind Director). The company was headquartered in San Francisco, California.
Its rival, Adobe Systems, acquired it in a $3.4 billion share swap based on the last trading-day price before the announcement.
Adobe is based in San Jose, California. Founded in February 1982, the company is best known for Acrobat, the software for sharing documents, as well as Photoshop, the photo editing software for use by graphic design professionals.
Macromedia on the other hand, was known for Flash, a software program for animating web pages, and Dreamweaver, a program for designing web pages.
The acquisition is a deal that combines the two brand names in software at a time. The moment also marks a solution when both were facing an increasing competition from Microsoft in the market for electronic document management programs.
By acquiring Macromedia, Adobe quickly integrated the company's operations, networks, and customer-care organizations. The company also adapted to the change, and added several new software products and platforms to its product portfolio.