Already a subscriber?Canva has made its largest acquisition to date, likely spending more than $1 billion to buy professional design software company Serif to compete directly with Adobe as its prepares a long run at going public.
Serif’s CEO Ashley Hewson and his team at the design software maker’s headquarters in Nottingham, UK. Serif’s accounts lodged with the UK Companies House show a highly profitable business under no pressure to sell. It had revenue of £31 million in the 2022 calendar – the latest year for which figures are available, up 33 per cent over 2021 – while profit rose 19.5 per cent to £16.4 million.but indicated it was significantly more than a £400 million estimate based on Serif’s financials.That would likely put the price above $1 billion, paid for with a mix of cash and Canva stock.
Adobe agreed to buy another design software company, Figma, in 2022 but was effectively blocked by competition regulators andMr Obrecht and Serif chief executive Ashley Hewson said they had received legal advice and the same issues would not affect this transaction. “None of that applies to us,” Mr Obrecht said.“This has happened in a ridiculously short timeframe,” said Mr Hewson on a call from Nottingham.