M&A

10 November, 2009

UPDATE 2-Adobe cuts 680 jobs, to take charge

* To take $65 mln to $71 mln pretax charge

* Cuts exclude employees from Omniture acquisition

* Stock unchanged (Adds percentage of workers laid off, details on layoffs)

BOSTON, Nov 10 (Reuters) - Adobe Systems Inc (ADBE.O), the top maker of design software, said that it has cut 680 jobs, or 9 percent of its workforce before a recent acquisition, as it moves to slash expenses.

Like many companies, Adobe has been laying off workers the past few years as the recession has cut into sales in a bid to stem the impact of the revenue decrease on profits.

The company will take between $65 million and $71 million in pretax restructuring charges related to the cuts, which will not affect employees who worked for Omniture Inc, which Adobe acquired Oct. 23.

As of Sept. 15, Adobe had 7,564 employees.

Adobe had previously announced that it would lay off about 9 percent of the 1,200 employees who joined the company through its acquisition of Omniture.

Adobe shares were unchanged in after-hours trade at $36.60. (Reporting by Jim Finkle; Editing by Phil Berlowitz, Bernard Orr)

Source: http://www.reuters.com