Updated The European Commission says Adobe’s proposed $20 billion purchase of web-first design collaboration startup Figma will harm competition in the region unless the pair devise remedies to resolve this.
The transaction would represent the most expensive sale of a privately owned software company in history, and was flagged as a concern by 16 member states of the European Union in February, such is the lack of credible alternatives to Adobe on the market.
The EC leaned in for an in-depth investigation of the merger in August, and late on Friday evening - in the Euro time zone - it delivered the damning preliminary verdict in a Statement of Objections.
By erasing Figma as a competitive hurdle, Adobe would also tighten its grip on the supply of vector and raster editing tools, the EC added.
The sale was first announced in September 2022, and served to unsettle some developer customers of Figma, ones that were worried Adobe would kill off the free version, or its own XD software, anxiety the clearly EC shares.
The EU’s regulator isn’t the only one taking a keen interest in the $20 billion merger; the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority and the Department of Justice’s antitrust team are also inspecting the proposal.
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Updated The European Commission says Adobe’s proposed $20 billion purchase of web-first design collaboration startup Figma will harm competition in the region unless the pair devise remedies to resolve this.
The transaction would represent the most expensive sale of a privately owned software company in history, and was flagged as a concern by 16 member states of the European Union in February, such is the lack of credible alternatives to Adobe on the market.
The EC leaned in for an in-depth investigation of the merger in August, and late on Friday evening - in the Euro time zone - it delivered the damning preliminary verdict in a Statement of Objections.
By erasing Figma as a competitive hurdle, Adobe would also tighten its grip on the supply of vector and raster editing tools, the EC added.
The sale was first announced in September 2022, and served to unsettle some developer customers of Figma, ones that were worried Adobe would kill off the free version, or its own XD software, anxiety the clearly EC shares.
The EU’s regulator isn’t the only one taking a keen interest in the $20 billion merger; the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority and the Department of Justice’s antitrust team are also inspecting the proposal.
The original article contains 667 words, the summary contains 207 words. Saved 69%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!