Adobe just add one more problem to be able to go ahead with the purchase of Figma just as I had planned. To the plans of the United States to stop the operation, and to the investigation that they have opened in the United Kingdom to review the agreement, the review process that the European Union can open to the agreement. According to Bloomberg, EU officials have set a deadline of August 7 to decide whether to open an in-depth investigation of the operation, in which Adobe has announced its intention to invest $20 billion.
If successful, the deal will culminate in giving Adobe control of what is currently the most important web design platform in the world, although other competitors for Figma have emerged strongly since its announcement, such as the Spanish Penpot, developed by Kaleidos.
However, from Adobe they trust that their agreement will obtain the approval of the regulatory authorities of the EU, since they trust the company «on the merits of the case, as Figma’s product design is adjacent to Adobe’s core creative products, and Adobe has no significant plans to compete in the product design space. We hope to establish these facts in the next phase of the process.«.
The regulatory authorities of the United States, the United Kingdom and the European Union (especially those of the first two countries), have increased the pressure on the multi-billion dollar purchase and merger agreements of the technological companies. Microsoft and Activision are experiencing this directly, as both the UK and US competition watchdogs are trying to block the purchase of Activision, for which Microsoft wants to pay no less than $69 billion. of dollars.
In this case, the United Kingdom has directly opposed the operation, while the United States does not seem inclined to allow it either. The EU has authorized it, albeit with concessions. Those from Redmond have appealed to the UK Competition and Markets Authority and to the US Federal Trade Commission, and the case is currently in the courts of both countries.
As for the operation between adobe and figmaboth parties have submitted the information requested by the United States Department of Justice on the agreement, with the aim of getting them to give them the green light to continue, waiting for what the British regulatory authorities decide.
