Quite a number of acquisitions and merger are going on in the IT industry lately, here come another one, though it’s still in the proposal stage.

Adobe announced on Oct 13, 2005 that they have already granted clearance from the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) for the acquisition of Macromedia. In fact, back in April, 2005, Adobe has confirmed a definitive agreement to acquire Macromedia and eventually got approved after 6 months.

The acquisition is believed to be around USD$3.4 billion. Though we might see this two largest graphic design software developers will be merged in this Fall, they still need to wait for several European jurisdictions to sanction the deal before it is finalized.

Usually merger is a tactic to consolidate a business’s market share. Adobe’s acquisition of Macromedia serves the same purpose as Microsoft will launch Web and graphic designer software next year that would compete with both companies. So, let’s see how everything goes.