Macromedia Inc. will aim to keep staff losses to a minimum as a result of the Adobe Systems Inc. acquisition, but the company"s managing director John Biviano has admitted job cuts are likely.

In Australia, Adobe and Macromedia have a combined workforce of 35.

"If you look at other acquisitions like Oracle and Veritas you can expect a 10 percent attrition," Biviano said.

"It"s unfortunate. We want to grow our business and will keep staff losses to a minimum."

Globally, Biviano said Macromedia has 1,500 staff and with both companies combined it will be about 5,000.

"But overall i think the impact in this region will be minimal," he added.

Biviano is well placed to join the newly combined company as he worked at Adobe for three years, leaving the company in 2001.

"I like to think I have a part to play in the new organization but at this point it"s all speculation," he said.

Since the acquisition was announced, Biviano has been meeting with local customers and believes realistically, it will take a few more months for the deal to close and to provide users with product roadmaps.

He has met with customers from the education sector, who account for 35 percent of the company"s revenue as well as Australia"s largest banks. The deal is likely to combine the companies" document management, Web publishing and online video delivery tools.

Adobe and Macromedia have some of the most widely-distributed software in the world.

Adobe"s portable document format (PDF) and Acrobat Reader software is common on most desktops, and Macromedia"s Flash products are widely used to create and view animation, video and other content.

However, federal antitrust regulators in the U.S. have requested additional information about the acquisition.

The Justice Department is taking a closer look at the competitive landscape for multimedia content tools. Specifically, officials have requested additional information on both companies" Web-authoring design and vector graphics illustration products, the companies said last week.