(Bloomberg) — Canva Inc. acquired the Affinity suite of inventive software program fashionable with Mac customers, securing its greatest acquisition to this point in an effort to compete with Adobe Inc.Most Learn from BloombergThe deal, which is a mixture of money and inventory, is valued at “a number of hundred million kilos,” Canva co-founder and Chief Working Officer Cliff Obrecht mentioned in an interview with Bloomberg on Monday. It’s the most important outlay but by Australia’s most useful startup, priced at $26 billion in its newest share sale, and marks a milestone within the enlargement of its vary {of professional} instruments.Becoming a member of Canva is the whole 90-person crew of Nottingham, UK-based Serif, the startup liable for Affinity’s portfolio of photo-editing, publishing and illustration software program. Affinity’s apps have been featured in Apple Inc.’s displays of inventive merchandise and are the “closing piece in our jigsaw,” Obrecht mentioned. They may now be used to enrich Canva’s collection of synthetic intelligence-powered instruments because the Australian agency bolsters its providing of on-line workspaces.Learn Extra: Canva Unveils AI Design Instruments as Competitors From Adobe Heats UpFounded a few decade in the past, Canva has grown into probably the most succesful competitor to Adobe, the longtime dominant supplier of software program for graphics professionals. Adobe has added AI options all through its merchandise lately, however its shares have fallen greater than 15% this 12 months after a $20 billion deal to accumulate Figma fell by way of in December.Buyers have lengthy considered Canva as a candidate to go public, although the corporate hasn’t mentioned plans for doing so. It lately accomplished a $1.5 billion secondary share sale, Obrecht mentioned.The startup, which has centered on making easy-to-use merchandise focused at folks with out formal design coaching, surpassed $2.1 billion in annualized income and has over 175 million customers. It added over 90 million new customers over the previous 18 months, helped by new AI options.Story continuesThe Australian upstart has now acquired a complete of seven firms in Europe, together with visible AI startup Kaleido.ai and picture suppliers Pexels and Pixabay, because it seems to develop its presence on the continent.“It’s a market that has such excessive potential and alternative,” mentioned Obrecht, including that Canva arrange its European headquarters in London final 12 months. “We actually wish to double down on that natural progress.”(Updates with feedback from Canva COO)Most Learn from Bloomberg Businessweek©2024 Bloomberg L.P.