The UK Competition and Markets Authority has ruled that Adobe's $200 billion acquisition of FigmaImpact on market competition, so Adobe did not agree to the deal earlierAnnounceAbandon the acquisition of Figma and will pay the latter up to $10 billion in compensation.
Adobe and Figma have now signed an acquisition failure agreement to terminate the transaction.
The UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) intervened in the investigation of Adobe's acquisition in June this year. The preliminary investigation results released recently believe that this transaction may affect market competition and even lead to a reduction in more innovation opportunities in the market.
Since Figma holds approximately 80% of the design market share and is involved in a design-related application services industry valued at approximately US$194 billion, the UK Competition and Markets Authority believes that if Figma does not merge with Adobe, it will be able to continue to build software services that compete with Adobe. Therefore, it believes that Adobe's acquisition of Figma will lead to an imbalance in market competition.
The UK Competition and Markets Authority said that since the design-related industry in the UK has an annual revenue of about US$600 billion and employs about 85 technical personnel, it will further clarify whether Adobe's transaction will affect economic development in the UK.
In addition to the UK Competition and Markets Authority, the European Commission also earlier believed that Adobe's transaction may affect market competition.
Adobe later responded, emphasizing that both it and Figma disagreed with the regulator's conclusion, believing that the transaction would benefit both parties, redefine market creativity and productivity, and change the market through digital experience.
