Filing: EU antitrust regulators resume their investigation into Adobe's $20B Figma acquisition, setting a February 5, 2024 deadline for their decision
Foo Yun Chee / Reuters :
Context & Ripple Effects
The resumed review follows the European Commission's full-scale investigation opened after its preliminary competition assessment and an earlier expectation of a detailed Phase 2 process. The transaction was also under parallel UK scrutiny after the CMA opened an in-depth investigation when Adobe offered no remedies.
The February decision date turns a previously open-ended regulatory process into a defined near-term milestone for Adobe and Figma, while the deal remains subject to competition review on multiple fronts.
First-order effects
- EU regulators restart their examination of Adobe's proposed Figma purchase and must reach a decision by February 5, 2024.
- Adobe and Figma face continued deal uncertainty and must devote management and legal resources to the EU review rather than treating closing as imminent.
Second-order effects
- The fixed EU timetable concentrates pressure on the parties to substantiate the deal's competitive case; the earlier report that Adobe had not offered remedies during the EU review makes potential concessions a more consequential question.
- Continued independent operation by Figma preserves the existing competitive landscape for design-software customers while regulators assess whether the combination would reduce it.
Third-order effects
- If authorities sustain this level of scrutiny, acquisitions that combine established creative-software platforms with fast-growing design tools may face longer, coordinated reviews across jurisdictions.
- The case reinforces that merger review can shape product-market structure before a transaction closes, not only through outright approvals or blocks but through the time and conditions attached to review.
The trend: Large software acquisitions are facing more coordinated, competition-focused review when they could consolidate adjacent creative and design workflows.