Startups
Acquisitions / Ecommerce

Adobe to buy Magento in $1.68B deal, no changes expected for Philly office

Magento gained a Philly office in the summer of 2016 after acquiring RJMetrics, which became Magento BI. “Congrats to the team on an awesome deal,” said RJMetrics founder Bob Moore on Twitter.

A meeting at Magento BI's Center City offices in April 2017. (Courtesy photo)

On Tuesday, Adobe announced its intention to acquire San Mateo, Calif.-based ecommerce company Magento in a sizeable $1.68-billion deal that’s expected to close over the fall.

“Together, we’ll deepen our commitment to open, developer-driven experiences and we’ll empower our communities to apply their ingenuity to create more compelling experiences across the customer journey,” said Magento CEO Mark Lavelle in a blog post announcing the sale.

If the deal goes forth as expected, the San Jose, Calif.-based maker of Photoshop and a suite of other digital tools will gain not only a entrance into the ecommerce field through Magento — which helps online merchants run web stores, handle shipping and advertise their stuff on social media — but also the addition of a Philly outpost way of Magento’s Business Intelligence division.

As you might remember, in the summer of 2016 Magento announced it had acquired analytics firm RJMetrics’ CloudBI business, in a transaction that created a Center City outpost for the company and helped to spin out a new startup in Stitch, makers of a platform that extracts, transforms and loads data.

Until the transaction closes, each company will continue to operate independently and it's business as usual.

Should the newly-announced deal come through, Magento BI will become an Adobe company, making it the first Philadelphia presence for Adobe, which has Northeast offices in New York and Boston.

A spokesperson for Adobe told Technical.ly on Monday that there were no immediate changes to report regarding the Philadelphia office. That’s in keeping with word from Magento, which said in a emailed statement that no changes were expected as the deal advances.

“The combination of Adobe and Magento capabilities is highly complementary and we look forward to sharing the specifics of the integration plan at the close of the transaction,” said Magento spokesperson Veselina Buie. “Until the transaction closes, each company will continue to operate independently and it’s business as usual.”

CEO Mark Lavelle will continue to lead the Magento team as part of Adobe’s Digital Experience business, reporting to executive vice president and general manager Brad Rencher.

Ben Garvey, Engineering Manager at Magento BI, declined to comment on the news, as did RJMetrics founder Bob Moore, who left the company in January. Though the Philly Startup Leaders president did tweet this:

The update from Magento adds to the narrative of tech giants entering the Philly area through acquisitions.

Last Summer, PayPal gained offices in Conshy and Wilmington, Del., through its acquisition of fintech company Swift Financial, a team of 260 split between the two outposts. In March 2017, Ring acquired IoT startup Zonoff and gained a Malvern engineering team that was then commandeered by Amazon when the ecommerce giant bought the smart doorbell maker for $1 billion in February.

Go back a few years and you’ll find deals like Berwyn, Pa.-based Boomi’s 2010 sale to Dell. Also, IBM bought two Philly-area tech companies in the early 2010s: Blue Bell, Pa.-based Fiberlink and Wayne, Pa.-based Kenexa.

Companies: Magento / Stitch, Inc. / RJMetrics
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