The Justice Department is preparing to launch an in-depth investigation of Adobe’s $20B takeover of Figma — the latest action from the DOJ and FTC in scrutinizing the market power of the world’s largest tech companies.
The exact timing of the probe is unclear. The companies announced their deal on Sept. 15 and are still in the review period mandated by law, according to three of the people. The DOJ has the discretion to open a longer, optional review period if it has concerns a deal will harm competition.
Figma has far surpassed Adobe in collaboration tools for designers, said Tadhg McCarthy, chief design officer at digital product consultancy Elsewhen. “It seems pretty clear to me that [Adobe] is trying to take a player off the board. I expect less competition and less innovation. That’s why everyone is concerned,” he said.
The 40-year-old Adobe is a Silicon Valley stalwart and a highly acquisitive company, having purchased most of its marquee products such as Photoshop. Both the DOJ antitrust division and its sister agency the Federal Trade Commission have taken an aggressive stance against dealmaking, scrutinizing both current and past acquisitions by the technology giants.
For Pablo Ruiz-Múzquiz, who heads up PenPot, an open-source competitor to Figma, the deal was a shock to the design community, since Figma had long marketed itself as the “anti-Adobe.”
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