Antitrust scrutiny could delay Adobe-Macro deal

The U.S. Department of Justice has requested additional information from Adobe and Macromedia, potentially delaying the companies’ planned $3.4 billion merger. The government is apparently interested in getting more information about competition in the graphics software market, in order to determine whether or not the deal could create a monopoly or stifle efforts to compete by smaller players. While Adobe and Macromedia may dominate certain sectors with products like Photoshop, Acrobat and Flash, the deal is likely to be approved, since there is still significant competition from both major players (i.e., Microsoft’s Acrylic) as well as smaller vendors (i.e., Corel’s Paint Shop Pro, Ulead’s various tools, and, of course the GIMP). Adobe has said it still expects the deal to close this fall.