Adobe and Figma Mutually Terminate $20B Deal After Regulatory Concerns

Over a year after it was announced, Adobe (NASDAQ: ADBE) and Figma mutually agreed to scrap the $20 billion acquisition deal amid mounting regulatory concerns in the US, UK, and Europe. Intriguingly, Adobe’s shares climbed 1.8% ahead of the market opening on Monday, with the market seeing the conclusion to the acquisition saga on a positive note for the company. 

Deal Terminated After No Clear Path for Regulator Nod

Adobe and cloud-based designer platform Figma agreed to drop the $20 billion cash-and-stock deal, citing “no clear path” for the green light from antitrust regulators in the UK and EU. Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), Britain’s top antitrust watchdog, said Adobe would not make additional proposals to address regulatory concerns.

“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 CEO Shantanu Narayen said.

The deal, agreed in September 2022, has come under immediate scrutiny by global competition regulators, most notably the Department of Justice (DOJ) and CMA, as well as the European Commission. 

The latter argued that the buyout would mark a “reverse killer acquisition” as Adobe would likely discontinue its own design service. Further, the commission said the deal would eliminate Figma as a rival for two of Adobe’s benchmark editing tools and terminate its chances of becoming a strong competitor. 

UK’s CMA voiced similar concerns last month, saying the takeover could harm Britain’s broader digital design sector. More concretely, the watchdog said the deal could “eliminate competition” and “reduce innovation” as well as “remove Figma as a threat to Adobe’s flagship Photoshop and Illustrator products.”

But it wasn’t only the regulators that were concerned about the takeover. Figma users were worried that Adobe would raise the platform’s prices after the acquisition. However, Adobe denied those claims, saying it would continue offering a free version of the cloud-based design service. 

Due to the termination, Adobe will be required to pay Figma a reverse termination fee of $1 billion in cash. 

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Adobe’s Shares Rise in Premarket

Adobe shares rose slightly in premarket trading following the news, up 1.8% at the time of writing.

The company’s stock has been on a tear in 2023, surging more than 73% year-to-date, significantly outperforming the broader S&P 500. Like most tech companies, its impressive performance is largely attributed to the ongoing AI boom, which sparked significant interest in Adobe’s generative AI service Firefly.

Last week, the company released financial results for its fiscal Q4, beating Wall Street’s estimates, but its shares tumbled due to a soft 2024 guidance. Despite that, analysts at Jefferies raised their price target on Adobe’s stock to $700, citing bullishness on Firefly’s adoption.

Do you agree with global regulators’ views that Adobe’s acquisition of Figma would harm competition in the sector? Let us know in the comments below.