Adobe called off plans to buy Figma, a web-based collaborative design platform, citing regulatory opposition to the proposed $20 billion deal.
Adobe and Figma on Monday said they mutually agreed to terminate their merger agreement, originally announced Sept. 15, 2022. Adobe said it will pay Figma the previously agreed-on deal-termination fee of $1 billion.
“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 U.K. Competition and Markets Authority,” the companies said.
In a Nov. 28 report, the U.K.’s CMA said it “provisionally found competition concerns as part of its in-depth investigation of the anticipated acquisition by Adobe Inc. of Figma, Inc.”
“Adobe and Figma strongly disagree with the recent regulatory findings, but we believe it is in our respective best interests to move forward independently,” Adobe chair and CEO Shantanu Narayen said in a statement. “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.”
Adobe’s proposed deal for Figma would have been its biggest-ever acquisition. The $20 billion price tag was to comprise about half cash and half stock. In 2021, Adobe paid $1.275 billion for Frame.io, a cloud-based video collaboration platform with more than 1 million users across media and entertainment companies, agencies and brands.
Founded in 2012, Figma provides a collaboration system for developers of interactive mobile and web applications.