Adobe’s $20 billion bid for Figma in peril after EU warning
Adobe has been issued with a formal antitrust complaint by EU regulators regarding its $20 billion bid for cloud-based product design platform Figma. Following an in-depth investigation that was launched on August 7th, the European Commission reached the preliminary conclusion on Friday that if the deal goes ahead, it may “significantly reduce competition in the global markets” for the supply of interactive product design tools, vector editing tools, and raster editing tools.
The Commission has issued a statement of objections outlining its competition concerns. This highlights that EU officials believe Figma already exerts a “significant constraining influence” over Adobe’s Illustrator and Photoshop editing tools, and is “significantly likely” to grow into a competitive force within the market for vector and raster editing tools without the merger.
The European Commission still has a deadline of February 5th to issue a final decision regarding the proposed Adobe / Figma merger
The statement of objections doesn’t prejudge the outcome of the EU’s investigation, which still has a deadline of February 5th. Adobe and Figma can now respond to the objections in writing to offer concessions that address the Commission’s precise regulatory concerns, and request a hearing, after which the Commission will decide whether the acquisition infringes on antitrust law.
“We remain confident in the merits of our case, as Figma’s product design is an adjacency to Adobe’s core creative products and Adobe has no meaningful plans to compete in the product design space,” said an Adobe spokesperson in a statement to Bloomberg. A Figma spokesperson also told Bloomberg “We feel confident in our ability to resolve regulators’ concerns and will continue to engage in constructive conversations focused on the benefits this deal will create for consumers and Europe’s innovation economy.”
To date, both Adobe and Figma have reportedly not provided any remedies to address antitrust concerns raised by the investigation. Adobe already started to phase out the availability of Adobe XD — a UX/ UI product design app that bears similarities with Figma — earlier this year, after announcing the deal. The Commission now claims that the discontinuation of Adobe XD, alongside any potential successor product, would constitute a “reverse killer acquisition” — a situation in which companies axe in-house products to remove potential competitive risks to newly acquired products or services.
Adobe has been issued with a formal antitrust complaint by EU regulators regarding its $20 billion bid for cloud-based product design platform Figma. Following an in-depth investigation that was launched on August 7th, the European Commission reached the preliminary conclusion on Friday that if the deal goes ahead, it may…
Recent Posts
- Best Buy slashes up to $400 off Apple tech in a limited-time sale — get AirPods, MacBooks, iPads and Apple Watches from $99.99
- The Instagram Plus subscription has officially launched
- Cyberdecks used to look like little laptops, but now they’re getting more personal
- Canada Prime Minister Mark Carney announces questionable national AI strategy
- Kevin O’Leary agrees to downsize massive Utah data center
Archives
- June 2026
- May 2026
- April 2026
- March 2026
- February 2026
- January 2026
- December 2025
- November 2025
- October 2025
- September 2025
- August 2025
- July 2025
- June 2025
- May 2025
- April 2025
- March 2025
- February 2025
- January 2025
- December 2024
- November 2024
- October 2024
- September 2024
- August 2024
- July 2024
- June 2024
- May 2024
- April 2024
- March 2024
- February 2024
- January 2024
- December 2023
- November 2023
- October 2023
- September 2023
- August 2023
- July 2023
- June 2023