Re: MSFT buying ADBE? Not so fast...
Here is more from IBD:
Adobe Soars On Report Of Merger Talks With Microsoft
By PATRICK SEITZ, INVESTOR'S BUSINESS DAILY Posted 06:17 PM ET
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Shares of Adobe Systems (ADBE) soared Thursday on reports its CEO and Microsoft's (MSFT) CEO had met and discussed a possible merger, among other things.
Adobe shares jumped 11.5% on the day to 28.69, and trading was halted briefly late in the session when the stock was up nearly 17%. Microsoft shares rose a fraction. The companies declined to comment.
But analysts discounted the possibility of Microsoft buying Adobe, speculation sparked by an online article by the New York Times.
"I think the Department of Justice would block something like that" on antitrust grounds, said Avian Securities analyst Jeff Gaggin.
The industry giants compete on Web application software: Adobe with Flash and Microsoft with Silverlight. They also both make software for creative professionals.
More likely than an acquisition, say analysts, is that Microsoft wants to team up with Adobe on mobile devices to compete against Apple (AAPL). Microsoft doesn't have an answer yet to Apple's iPad media tablet and has lost ground in smart phones to Apple's iPhone and devices running Google 's (GOOG) Android software. Apple has blocked Flash from its iPhone and iPad.
"This is one of those situations where the enemy of my enemy is my friend," said Toan Tran, an analyst with Morningstar. "They both certainly have a big common enemy in Apple."
Microsoft also might be concerned about the possibility of Google buying Adobe, which would make a lot of sense, Gaggin says.
"They're (both) trying to figure out how they can protect themselves against Google and Apple," he said. Microsoft's biggest worry is tablets, which could cannibalize Windows PC sales, Gaggin says.
Still, you can't rule out a Microsoft-Adobe merger, Tran says. "I'm skeptical, but this is the same management team that went after Yahoo, so anything's possible," he said.
In February 2008, Microsoft offered to buy Web portal Yahoo (YHOO) in a deal worth $44.6 billion. It later raised the offer, but Yahoo management rejected the deal in May 2008 and Microsoft walked away.