Competition watchdog concerned over £16bn Adobe takeover

The Competition and Markets Authority might move to block Adobe’s 20 billion dollar (£15.8 billion) takeover of Figma, a tool used to design digital apps and websites, after it found that it could be bad for competition in the UK.

The regulator said on Friday that the deal might mean “less choice for designers”, as the two businesses stop competing with each other.

“We’re worried this deal could stifle innovation and lead to higher costs for companies that rely on Figma and Adobe’s digital tools – as they cease to compete to provide customers with new and better products,” said Sorcha O’Carroll, senior mergers director at the CMA.

The watchdog has asked Adobe to come up with solutions that can allay its concerns about the deal. If it does not the CMA will launch a deeper investigation into the deal, and could eventually block it if it considers that necessary.

The deal was announced in September last year.

Adobe said: “The combination of Adobe and Figma will deliver significant value to customers by making product design more accessible and efficient, reimagining creative capabilities on the web and creating new categories of creativity and productivity.

“We remain confident in the merits of the case as Figma’s product design is an adjacency to Adobe’s core creative products and Adobe has no meaningful plans to compete in the product design space.

“We look forward to establishing these facts in the next phase of the process and successfully completing the transaction.”

If the CMA moves against the deal it would not be the first time that it has flexed its muscles against a planned tie-up between two American companies.

In April it took steps to block the 69 billion dollar (£56 billion) acquisition of games giant Activision Blizzard by Microsoft.

The companies are currently appealing against that decision and are expected to go to a tribunal next month.