Adobe has agreed to buy Semrush for $1.9 billion, acquiring the Boston-based software platform that also operates a major office in Limassol, as the Photoshop maker moves to strengthen its marketing tools in the generative-AI era.

Adobe will pay $12 a share in cash, a premium of about 77.5 per cent to Semrush’s last closing price.

Semrush shares jumped 74 per cent to $11.79 following the announcement.

Semrush, founded in 2008, develops AI-driven tools for search-engine optimisation, social media and digital advertising.

It has offices in 12 global cities, including Limassol, where it has maintained a significant presence since 2015.

The acquisition, expected to close in the first half of next year, will allow Adobe to help marketers understand how their brands are perceived online, both through website searches and through AI chatbots such as ChatGPT and Gemini.

“Brand visibility is being reshaped by generative AI, and brands that don’t embrace this new opportunity risk losing relevance and revenue,” Anil Chakravarthy, president of Adobe’s digital experience business, said.

As mentioned also on Reuter, analysts said Adobe is paying a steep price relative to Semrush’s standalone revenue, though the strategic value is clear.

Grace Harmon, an eMarketer analyst, noted that the deal could pay off “if Adobe can quickly turn Semrush’s data into monetisable AI products”.

Adobe’s wider portfolio, including Photoshop, InDesign, Illustrator and Acrobat, remains widely used by creative professionals, students and businesses.

However, mounting investor pressure to accelerate AI monetisation, combined with intensifying competition in digital design, has weighed on the stock, which is down over 27 per cent this year.

William Blair analysts said that while restarting its M&A strategy could benefit Adobe, the acquisition “does little to answer the questions revolving around the company’s Creative Cloud business”.

Adobe lifted its annual revenue and profit forecasts in September, driven by strong design-software demand. A month later, the company disclosed it was working with OpenAI to let users control one of its apps directly through ChatGPT.

SaaS companies more broadly have lost ground in 2025 amid concerns that AI-native tools are taking market share, a trend Semrush had also felt before Wednesday’s rally.

The deal comes two years after Adobe scrapped its $20bn bid for design-software firm Figma due to regulatory hurdles. Figma later listed in July as IPO activity began to recover.