Adobe and Figma abandon acquisition plan
Breaking news: the $20 billion acquisition is terminated because of regulatory roadblocks.
Adobe and Figma have announced the termination of a transaction plan that would have seen the creative and marketing giant acquire the collaborative design platform for $20 billion, half cash and half stock. The termination comes 15 months after the initial announcement of an intention to acquire in September 2022.
The decision was made in the face of steep regulatory roadblocks the deal was facing, especially in Europe. The main threat came from anti-trust regulation.
Although both companies continue to believe in the merits and procompetitive benefits of the combination, Adobe and Figma mutually agreed to terminate the transaction based on a joint assessment that there is no clear path to receive necessary regulatory approvals from the European Commission and the UK Competition and Markets Authority.
Adobe press release
Why we care. The acquisition by Adobe of Figma would indeed have eliminated one of its major rivals in the creative collaboration space. Indeed, Figma had been beating Adobe XD, a design tool for websites and mobile applications.
Dig deeper: EU raises antitrust concerns about Adobe’s purchase of Figma
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About the author
Kim was Associate Editor at a New York Times hyper-local news site, The Local: East Village, and has previously worked as an editor of an academic publication, and as a music journalist. He has written hundreds of New York restaurant reviews for a personal blog, and has been an occasional guest contributor to Eater.