Adobe continues to face increased scrutiny from regulators as they review the company’s acquisition of cloud-based design platform Figma. It is reported that this time the European Commission sent an official antitrust complaint to Adobe. Representatives of this main industry regulator of the European Union considered that the deal would harm competition.
Image source: blog.adobe.com
The European Commission considered that Adobe’s $20 billion acquisition of the Figma platform would “significantly reduce competition in global markets” in the supply of interactive product design tools, as well as vector and raster editing tools. The regulator’s preliminary opinion outlines concerns that significant harm to competition will be caused if the Adobe-Figma deal is completed. The regulator emphasizes that Figma has a “significant chilling effect” on Adobe’s Illustrator and Photoshop editing tools, and remains “highly likely” to continue to increase its competitive strength in the vector and raster editing tools market.
The current statement by the European Commission is preliminary and does not predetermine the outcome of the entire investigation, which should be completed by February 5, 2024. However, Adobe and Figma can already respond to the regulator’s signal by proposing certain changes to the terms of the deal so that the European Commission does not consider that it will harm competition. Representatives of Adobe and Figma, commenting on this issue, expressed confidence that they will be able to convince regulators that the deal will not harm competition in the vector and raster editing market.
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