Adobe scraps $20B acquisition of Figma with $1B termination fee

Adobe Inc. has officially terminated its proposed $20 billion acquisition of Figma Inc. on Monday, citing regulatory hurdles as the primary reason.

The proposed acquisition was announced in September 2020 and would have been one of the largest deals in the history of the software industry. However, the deal faced opposition from regulators in the EU and the UK, who argued that it would give Adobe too much control over the design software market.

The European Commission, which had been investigating the proposed merger, announced on Monday that its investigation had concluded and that it was aware of the decision to terminate the deal.

In response to the regulatory concerns, Adobe agreed to terminate the deal and pay Figma a $1 billion termination fee. The termination of the deal is a setback for Adobe, which had hoped to gain a foothold in the growing market for cloud-based design software. Figma has been a major player in this market, and its user base has grown rapidly in recent years.

Figma was founded in 2012 to facilitate collaboration among designers of interactive mobile and web applications. The company uses advanced design technologies, multi-player workflows, and a developer ecosystem.

Adobe is a San Jose, California-based company that sells software for managing documents and producing, disseminating, and promoting information.

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