By Steve Johnson

sjohnson@mercurynews.com
Posted: 09/15/2009 02:06:54 PM PDT
Updated: 09/16/2009 04:54:15 AM PDT

While disclosing a significant drop in quarterly earnings, San Jose-based Adobe Systems on Tuesday also announced a $1.8 billion deal to buy Omniture, a Utah company whose software is used by businesses to track how their Web-site information is being viewed.

Under the purchase, which is expected to be completed in the next few months, Adobe will buy all of Orem-based Omniture's outstanding common stock for $21.50 a share. That represents a 45 percent premium above Omniture's average selling price over the past 30 days, according to Adobe. Omniture's stock closed Tuesday at $17.32.

Omniture will become a new business unit within Adobe, with its chief executive, Josh James, joining Adobe as senior vice president of the new unit.

Adobe's software helps people create, read and share digital material. The firm has snapped up about a dozen software and other companies over the past four years. But the Omniture deal would be Adobe's biggest purchase since it bought Macromedia for $3.4 billion in April 2005. The deal also would rank as the fourth-largest tech-related purchase in the United States so far this year, according to credit-rating firm Standard & Poor's.

Full article at http://www.mercurynews.com/business/ci_13342427