Sources: the US DOJ is preparing to open an in-depth probe into Adobe's $20B acquisition of Figma and has been contacting customers, competitors, and investors
Context & Ripple Effects
Adobe agreed in September 2022 to buy Figma for $20B, and this Politico report marks the moment the deal stops being a pricing story and becomes a regulatory one: the DOJ's in-depth probe with outreach to customers, competitors, and investors is the step that typically precedes a formal challenge.
The arc that follows confirms the stakes — the DOJ moved toward a suit to block the deal, while Brussels opened its own detailed phase 2 investigation, filed anti-competitive charges, and only then drew out a remedies package from Adobe that reportedly includes not tying Figma into Creative Cloud and divesting Adobe XD.
First-order effects
- Adobe and Figma now face document requests and interviews across their customer, competitor, and investor bases, stretching the deal timeline past any quick close and raising integration-planning costs on both sides.
Second-order effects
- Figma's customers and rivals gain negotiating leverage during the review window — competitors can pitch switching while the acquisition is frozen, and Adobe's eventual concessions, such as keeping Figma out of Creative Cloud bundles or shedding Adobe XD, would preserve Figma as an independent competitive product.
Third-order effects
- If the pattern holds — parallel in-depth reviews by the DOJ, the UK, and the EU over a single design-software deal — large acquirers should expect remedies-first outcomes rather than outright approvals, making unbundling commitments a standard price of mega-acquisitions in creative software.
The trend: Antitrust authorities on both sides of the Atlantic are converging on prolonged, multi-jurisdiction reviews of Big Tech acquisitions, forcing buyers to budget for structural remedies as a condition of closing.