Adobe—Adobe abandoned $20B Figma acquisition after US and EU antitrust opposition, paying $1B termination fee
Adobe's proposed $20 billion acquisition of collaborative design tool Figma was terminated in December 2023 after facing antitrust scrutiny from the US DOJ, UK CMA, and European Commission. Regulators expressed concerns that the merger would reduce competition and innovation in the design software market. Adobe paid a $1 billion reverse termination fee. The DOJ Antitrust Division stated the abandonment 'ensures that designers, creators, and consumers continue to get the benefit of the rivalry between the two companies.'
Scoring Impact
| Topic | Direction | Relevance | Contribution |
|---|---|---|---|
| Antitrust & Competition | -against | primary | -1.00 |
| Overall incident score = | -0.993 | ||
Score = avg(topic contributions) × significance (high ×1.5) × confidence (0.66)
Evidence (2 signals)
Adobe paid $1 billion reverse termination fee after failed $20B Figma acquisition
Yahoo Finance reported that Adobe's failed acquisition of Figma cost the company over $38 billion and counting, including the $1 billion reverse termination fee paid under the merger agreement terms after both companies mutually agreed to terminate the deal in December 2023.
DOJ Antitrust Division issued statement after Adobe and Figma abandoned $20B merger
The DOJ Antitrust Division's AAG Jonathan Kanter stated the merger's abandonment 'ensures that designers, creators, and consumers continue to get the benefit of the rivalry between the two companies going forward,' confirming the DOJ had been prepared to challenge the acquisition on antitrust grounds.