Adobe-Omniture Fits Net Merger Pattern

Updated with Omniture's closing price

NEW YORK, (TheStreet) -- Attraction or desperation, whatever the motive, the Internet sector has played host to a few mergers lately, and some see more ahead.

Adobe's (ADBE Quote) surprise $1.8 billion bid for Omniture (OMTR Quote) Tuesday highlights some of the more urgent pressures at work.

With the relentless decline in sales, the software developer pondered its options and decided to realign its strategy a little more toward Web services.

With cash available, and so many beaten-down players to chose from, mergers and acquisitions could catch on.

There have been signs this summer with deals like Nokia's (NOK Quote) pickup of social networker Plum, Amazon's (AMZN Quote) acquisition of shoe retailer Zappos, and private equity firm Apax' offer to buy Bankrate (RATE Quote).

"We believe that Internet M&A activity has been picking-up and we will likely see more acquisitions in coming months," wrote Collins Stewart analyst Sandeep Aggarwal in a research note Wednesday.

Picking up the Pieces at Adobe: 1 Minute Trade

As analysts scrambled to adjust their ratings and price targets on Omniture after the 25% premium bid from Adobe, many offered other names to the potential merger pool. Leading candidates include a counter offer for Omniture from Yahoo!(YHOO Quote) or Microsoft (MSFT Quote). Or takeover targets like online marketing shop ValueClick (VCLK Quote) or rival traffic meter readers like Unica (UNCA Quote), ComScore (SCOR Quote) jump to mind.

Companies like Omniture, with industry leading technologies or services stuck in a sales slump, may be a good example of what sells in this environment.

After a strong surge in 2007, Omniture isn't exactly growing like gangbusters anymore. The company sells analytical services that measure traffic patterns on Web sites, particularly page views. These click counts are the life blood of any online venture that hopes to convince advertisers there is an audience for their ads.