EU Launches Investigation into Adobe’s Proposed Acquisition of Figma for $20 Billion

The European Union is planning to conduct a thorough investigation into Adobe Inc.’s acquisition of Figma Inc., worth $20 billion, due to concerns that the deal may negatively impact the global competition in designer software.

The European Commission warned on Monday that the deal could weaken the supply of tools for interactive product design and digital asset creation and that an “important competitive force” could be removed.

The EU’s in-depth investigation, which runs until December 14, will also analyze “whether the deal could foreclose rival service providers” by connecting Figma with Adobe’s Creative Cloud software.

“We are working to ensure that users continue to have access to a wide range of digital creative tools to choose from,” Margrethe Vestager, the EU’s antitrust commissioner, said in a statement.

“Transformative”

The planned deal will give San Jose-based Adobe control of Figma, the world’s leading web design platform, in what Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen describes as “transformational.”

The purchase is seen as a massive bet on small businesses and everyday users doing more creative work online, which Figma has quickly taken over. While Adobe has introduced lower-cost, streamlined products for this audience, most of its offerings are still heavy-duty programs aimed at experts.

Adobe is also being looked at further afield. Britain’s competition watchdog and the US Department of Justice are already reviewing the deal.

The company said Monday that it “remains confident in the merits of the case as Figma’s product design is adjacent to Adobe’s core creative products” and that it “has no meaningful plans to compete in the product design space.”

“We look forward to clarifying these facts in the next phase of the process and successfully completing the transaction,” the company added.

Adobe was little changed at $526.61 at 12:04 p.m. in New York while the Computer Services Subsector of the Russell 3000 index advanced.

Phase 2 probes in the EU add about 90 working days to make assessments. Brussels-based regulators typically require remedies to address competition concerns, but sometimes also decide to give their unconditional approval if initial concerns prove unfounded.