Adobe will buy marketo marketing software group for $ 4.75 billion

Adobe has agreed to buy the marketo marketing software group for about $ 4.75 billion, generating a huge gain for Vista Equity Partners, the private owner of the tech company.

"Adobe and Marketo share an unwavering belief in the power of content and data to drive business results," Marketo CEO Steve Lucas said Thursday. "Marketo provides the leading B2B marketing engagement platform for the modern marketer, and Marketo has no better asset for continuing to innovate quickly than Adobe."

For Vista, the successful deal is a boon, with the acquisition of Marketo for $ 1.8 billion two years ago.

The Texas-based fund, founded by Robert Smith, has been raging in recent years through a series of attractive deals targeting software publishers with higher growth but lower profits.

Private equity firms tend to stay away from high-growth, low-profit companies because they prefer to invest in strong targets, which allow them to generate enough debt to justify their investment models. investment.

Smith, a former banker with Goldman Sachs, has built a solid reputation in the areas of buying, improving and selling high quality software in recent years.

For Adobe, the acquisition of Marketo will further help the large technology company to rejuvenate its software offering and strengthen its transition to the cloud and subscription-based services.

"The important thing for marketers across all sectors is to focus on providing relevant, personalized and engaging experiences," said Brad Rencher, Executive Vice President and General Manager. digital experience at Adobe. "The acquisition of Marketo expands Adobe's customer experience advantage across B2C and B2B and places Adobe Experience Cloud at the heart of all marketing.

The two companies are already competing for customers, but Adobe's automation capabilities do not match those of Marketo. The acquisition would improve its chances of resisting competitors such as Oracle and Salesforce.

Adobe shares, up more than 50% since the beginning of the year, rose 0.5% to $ 266.11 Thursday.

Information on an impending deal was first published Thursday by CNBC, while talks on a potential deal were reported earlier this month by Reuters.

The transaction is expected to close in the fourth quarter of Adobe's 2018 fiscal year, subject to regulatory approval and other closing conditions.