Marketing and imaging software producer Adobe agreed yesterday to buy US-based work management software provider Workfront in a $1.5bn deal that will allow quantitative trading firm Susquehanna International Group (SIG) to exit.
Workfront has built a software platform that allows enterprises to focus workplace activity and collaboration in a single place, allowing marketing employees to create content and share ideas as well as oversee complex projects.
Anil Chakravarthy, general manager of digital experience business and worldwide field operations for Adobe, said: “Adobe is the undisputed leader in content creation, management, delivery and measurement and a trusted partner to digital leaders around the globe.
“The combination of Adobe and Workfront will further accelerate Adobe’s leadership in customer experience management, providing a pioneering solution that spans the entire lifecycle of digital experiences, from ideation to activation.”
Chief executive Alex Shootman will continue to run it as a subsidiary of Adobe and will report to Chakravarthy. It has a customer base of some 3,000 companies and about 1 million users.
SIG joined investors including private equity firm W Capital Partners and AB Private Credit Investors, the debt financing arm of asset manager AllianceBernstein, in a $280m secondary share purchase in March 2019.
Workfront had previously secured a total of $95m in funding from JMI Equity, Greenspring Global Partners, OpenView Venture Partners, Atlas Peak, GreenSpring Associates, Escalate Capital and University Venture Fund since it was founded in 2001 as AtTask.
