Adobe Gets Creative With £509m Fotolia Deal

Software firm Adobe has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Fotolia, a marketplace for royalty-free photos, images, graphics and HD video, for $800m (£509m) in cash.

Fotolia will be integrated into Adobe Creative Cloud, providing current and future Creative Cloud members with the ability to access and purchase more than 34 million images and videos, which could simplify and accelerate the design process.

Vibrant marketplace

Adobe said the acquisition of Fotolia cements Creative Cloud’s role as a vibrant marketplace for creatives to buy and sell assets and services as well as showcase their talent to a worldwide audience. Adobe also plans to continue to operate Fotolia as a standalone stock service, accessible to anyone.

David Wadhwani, senior vice president, Digital Media, Adobe, said: “The acquisition of Fotolia will reinforce Creative Cloud’s role as the pre-eminent destination for creatives. Creative Cloud is becoming the go-to marketplace for the creative community to access images, videos, fonts and creative talent, through critical creative services like Fotolia and our new Creative Talent Search capabilities.”

With more than 3.4 million members, Adobe Creative Cloud is said to feature the world’s leading desktop tools, an array of complementary mobile apps, training content, creative assets and services and ready access to a dynamic community. Adobe believes that Creative Cloud is transforming how creatives find inspiration and deliver their best work. The company also strives to increase the value of Creative Cloud through product updates and new capabilities like Creative Talent Search. Following the completion of the acquisition, Adobe expects to integrate the delivery and purchase of stock assets into Creative Cloud.

Oleg Tscheltzoff, founder and CEO of Fotolia, said: “Becoming part of the Adobe family is a dream come true for the Fotolia team and will accelerate our vision to become the best place for artists to build a business and the ultimate destination for designers to find stunning creative work.”

Founded in 2004, with offices in New York, Paris and Berlin, privately-held Fotolia is owned by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co., TA Associates and management. Fotolia currently operates in 23 countries and has websites in 14 languages.

The transaction, which is expected to close in the second half of Adobe’s fiscal Q1 2015, is subject to certain regulatory approvals and customary closing conditions. Until the transaction closes, each company will continue to operate independently. Upon close Fotolia CEO, Oleg Tscheltzoff, will continue to lead the Fotolia team as part of Adobe’s Digital Media business.

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