Adobe to buy marketing startup Workfront for $1.5B

<p id="content">Software major Adobe said it will acquire Workfront, a leading work management platform for marketers, for $1.5 billion.</p>
The acquisition of Workfront will bring efficiency, collaboration, and productivity gains to marketing teams currently challenged with siloed work management solutions, Adobe said on Monday.

The transaction is expected to close during the first quarter of Adobe's 2021 fiscal year.

"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," Anil Chakravarthy, EVP and GM, Digital Experience Business and Worldwide Field Operations, Adobe, said in a statement.

With more than 3,000 customers and one million users, Workfront — based in Lehi, Utah — helps marketers to efficiently manage content, plan and track marketing campaigns, and execute complex workflows across teams.

The acquisition comes at a time when satisfying the increasing expectations of business-to-customer (B2C) and business-to-business (B2B) customers now requires large volumes of content and personalised marketing campaigns delivered at high speed and scale.

This must be accomplished across increasingly dispersed teams, as remote work becomes prevalent in today's environment and the future of work is redefined.

"Adobe and Workfront share a common affinity to help the modern marketer thrive in an ever-evolving, increasingly demanding setting," said Alex Shootman, CEO, Workfront.

"We're excited to join Adobe and believe this will be a tremendous opportunity for our customers and partners."

Upon close, Workfront CEO Alex Shootman will continue to lead the Workfront team, reporting to Chakravarthy.

Adobe and Workfront are longstanding partners with strong product synergies and a growing base of over 1,000 shared customers.

Shared Adobe and Workfront customers include Deloitte, Under Armour, Nordstrom, Prudential Financial, T-Mobile, and The Home Depot..