Australia-based Canva announced it will acquire the British makers of photo editing software, Affinity, which has popular apps for Mac, iPad and Windows users.
Affinity has over 3 million users worldwide that use its professional design software, including Designer 2, Photo 2 and Publisher 2.
“While our last decade at Canva has focused heavily on the 99% of knowledge workers without design training, truly empowering the world to design includes empowering professional designers too. By joining forces with Affinity, we’re excited to unlock the full spectrum of designers at every level and stage of the design journey,” said Canva.
Canva co-founder and Chief Operating Officer, Cliff Obrecht, told Bloomberg on Monday the deal is a mix of cash and stock, valued at “several hundred million pounds.”
Affinity’s team of 90 staff will join Canva, with many seeing the new merger to allow the latter to compete with Adobe, who has held a dominant position in providing software for graphics professionals. Many existing users now fear Affinity will turn to a subscription model like Adobe.
