Canva Buys UK-Based Affinity For 'Several Hundred Million Pounds' In Biggest-Ever Acquisition 

The deal, which is a mix of cash and stock, is valued at “several hundred million pounds”, (or approximately $380 million), as per Canva co-founder and Chief Operating Officer Cliff Obrecht.

Online graphic design tool Canva has made its largest acquisition to date by purchasing Affinity, a UK-based design platform.

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Online graphic design tool Canva has made its largest acquisition to date by purchasing Affinity, a UK-based design platform, the media has reported. Notably, Affinity offers a creative suite of software tools that are particularly favoured among Mac users. This strategic acquisition is said to bolster Canva's competitiveness against industry giant Adobe. Moreover, the deal contributes to the momentum as the fast-growing Australian startup prepares for an upcoming initial piblic offering (IPO).

The deal, which is a mix of cash and stock, is valued at “several hundred million pounds”, (or approximately $380 million), as per Canva co-founder and Chief Operating Officer Cliff Obrecht, news agency Bloomberg has reported. This represents the largest investment to date by Australia's most valuable startup, which was valued at $26 billion in its recent share sale, signifying a significant milestone in the expansion of its array of professional tools.

This acquisition signifies another significant milestone for Canva, which has been actively expanding its presence in Europe, with previous acquisitions including Austrian background remover tool maker Kaleido.ai in 2021, and image providers Pexels and Pixabay in 2019.

Despite being just a decade-old startup, Canva has emerged as a formidable competitor to industry giant Adobe, which is traditionally the go-to design provider for graphic professionals. While Adobe endeavours to enhance its artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities, its growth has been hindered following an unsuccessful attempt to acquire Figma in a $20 billion deal in December 2023.

Notably, in November last year, San Jose, California-based Adobe unveiled its latest offerings, Photoshop Elements 2024 and Premiere Elements 2024, featuring an array of cutting-edge AI-driven capabilities. The release significantly expanded Adobe's product portfolio, introducing more than 20 unique AI-powered functionalities to enhance user experiences.

Among the standout features in these updated products was the automatic creation of video highlight reels. Designed to capture viewers' attention, this feature emphasises movement, close-ups, and top-quality footage, swiftly transforming basic video clips into engaging visual narratives.

Adobe also introduced a convenient one-click photo selection tool. This simplifies the editing process, allowing users to enhance or replace specific elements in an image with a single click. Notably, an eagerly anticipated feature for removing JPEG artefacts is now easily accessible through the Quick Actions panel, simplifying the enhancement of compressed JPEGs.