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Microsoft announced its plan to acquire Visio on September 15, 1999, with the offer described as $1.3 billion. The deal closed on January 7, 2000; Microsoft then described the completed consideration as approximately $1.5 billion in stock. Its 2002 filing likewise reported issuing 14 million shares valued at approximately $1.5 billion for Visio’s outstanding stock. The $1.3 billion headline figure is the announced offer, not the later reported closing value.
From offer to completed acquisition
| Date | What happened |
|---|---|
| September 15, 1999 | Microsoft’s acquisition history lists Visio on this date, and the company’s closing announcement confirms it was the original announcement date. The offer was described as $1.3 billion. Microsoft’s completion announcement and its acquisition history establish the chronology. |
| January 7, 2000 | Microsoft announced that it had completed the acquisition for approximately $1.5 billion in stock. Visio became the Visio Division within Microsoft’s Business Productivity Group. Microsoft’s completion announcement. |
| February 17–23, 2000 | Microsoft said Visio products and volume licensing agreements became available through its existing sales channels effective February 17; the company announced that arrangement on February 23. It planned to continue selling the applications as standalone products. Microsoft’s sales-channel announcement. |
| 2002 | Microsoft’s annual report said it issued 14 million shares, valued at approximately $1.5 billion, in exchange for Visio’s outstanding stock. It described the January 2000 transaction as a pooling of interests. Microsoft’s 2002 Form 10-K. |
Why the figures differ
The figures describe different points in the transaction record. The $1.3 billion amount is the announced offer figure associated with the 1999 deal. When Microsoft reported completion in January 2000, it described the stock consideration as approximately $1.5 billion. The 2002 filing provides a share count and repeats that approximate valuation. These records do not support treating $1.3 billion as the final financial-statement value.
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The stock-based consideration also matters: Microsoft did not describe the completed purchase as a $1.5 billion cash payment. Its 2002 filing says 14 million shares were issued for Visio’s outstanding stock and notes pooling-of-interests accounting.
How Microsoft integrated Visio
At closing, Microsoft placed Visio in its Business Productivity Group as a division rather than presenting it as a discontinued product. Within weeks, Microsoft said Visio applications would be sold through the company’s established sales channels while remaining standalone products. Its February 2000 announcement named Visio 2000 Standard, Technical, Professional and Enterprise editions.
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The stated logic included expanding distribution: Morris Beton, a director of marketing in Microsoft’s Visio Division, said, “One of our primary goals for this merger was to capitalize on Microsoft’s sales and marketing expertise to make it easier for customers to license Visio products.” Microsoft’s February 2000 announcement.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Visio today: browser access is not the same as the desktop app
As of September 28, 2026, Microsoft describes Visio as diagramming software for tasks such as flowcharts, organization charts, network diagrams, workflows and home or office plans. Its current support pages distinguish the browser-based app from the full-featured Windows desktop app: Plan 1 is web-only, while Plan 2 includes the desktop app as well as web access. Microsoft’s Visio installation and access guidance and its Visio for the web overview outline those distinctions.
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Microsoft also documents a lightweight Visio web app for eligible commercial Microsoft 365 subscribers. That access is not equivalent to a full desktop Visio license, and Microsoft says Visio is sold as a standalone application rather than included as a full app in the Microsoft 365 suite. Eligibility and features depend on the subscription and product version. Microsoft’s Visio in Microsoft 365 guidance.
Current product names and entitlements can change. Microsoft’s version documentation for Visio 2024 describes updated shapes, templates and styles, with additional stencils in Professional 2024; those are later product details, not features to project back onto the Visio Microsoft acquired in 1999.
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