LogIn"We will continue to look for ways to partner with Figma to delight our joint customers."
Image credit: Koshiro K / Shutterstock.com
On December 19, Adobe had to call off its $20 billion deal to acquire Figma because the companies faced difficulties in obtaining antitrust approvals in Europe and the UK. The deal, which was announced in September of last year, faced scrutiny from regulators concerned about the market power of tech giants companies and potential harm to competition. As part of the termination, Adobe will pay a fee of $1 billion to Figma.
"Adobe and Figma strongly disagree with the recent regulatory findings, but we believe it is in our respective best interests to move forward independently," stated Shantanu Narayen, the CEO of Adobe in a press release. "While Adobe and Figma shared a vision to jointly redefine the future of creativity and productivity, we continue to be well positioned to capitalize on our massive market opportunity and mission to change the world through personalized digital experiences."
Figma's CEO Dylan Field expressed his continued belief in the value of the deal with Adobe, stating that "going through this process with Shantanu, David, and the Adobe team has only reinforced my belief in the merits of this deal, but it's become increasingly clear over the past few months that regulators don't see things the same way."
"We will continue to look for ways to partner with Figma to delight our joint customers," wrote Adobe's Senior Vice President David Wadhwani in the company's blog.
Antitrust regulators have been closely examining lots of tech deals recently. For example, around a week ago I reported on the Competition and Markets Authority, which started conducting a review of Microsoft's investment in OpenAI.
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