Source:https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/2023\/05\/03\/adobes-20b-figma-acquisition-fall-on-uk-competition-radar\/<\/a><\/br>
\nAdobe\u2019s $20B Figma acquisition falls on UK antitrust radar<\/br>
\n2023-05-03 22:07:27<\/br><\/p>\n

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The U.K.\u2019s competition authority is adding<\/a> Adobe\u2019s proposed $20 billion bid for digital design rival Figma<\/a> to its ever-growing to-do list.<\/p>\n

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) confirmed today<\/a> that it\u2019s launching an initial \u201cphase 1\u201d merger inquiry, with the relevant stakeholders given a two-week period to provide comment.<\/p>\n

Adobe first confirmed it was tabling a $20 billion bid for Figma last September<\/a>, and it was always expected to draw at least some regulatory scrutiny. Back in February,\u00a0the European Commission (EC) revealed that it was assessing the acquisition<\/a> on competition grounds, noting that the deal \u201cthreatens to significantly affect competition in the market for interactive product design and whiteboarding software.\u201d<\/p>\n

The EC intervened after receiving requests from more than a dozen constituent EU countries, including France and Germany.<\/p>\n

Elsewhere, the U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ) is also reportedly readying a lawsuit<\/a> to block the deal, though nothing is yet confirmed.<\/p>\n

A full plate<\/h2>\n

The Adobe-Figma acquisition is the latest in a long line of M&A transactions that the U.K. has elected to look at. The CMA recently confirmed<\/a> it was pursuing Broadcom\u2019s proposed $61 billion VMware acquisition<\/a>, while just last week it went the whole nine yards by officially blocking<\/a> Microsoft\u2019s plans to acquire Activision Blizzard for $68.7 billion.<\/p>\n

The CMA had also been looking<\/a> to investigate Apple and Google\u2019s \u201cmobile duopoly\u201d around browsers and cloud gaming, however Apple managed to get that thrown out<\/a> on a legal technicality. The CMA had appealed against that ruling, but news emerged earlier today that their appeal was rejected<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Elsewhere, U.K. communications industry regulator Ofcom is currently assessing whether to refer<\/a> the local cloud infrastructure services market to the CMA, with AWS and Microsoft in its crosshairs.<\/p>\n

Following the initial Adobe-Figma merger inquiry notice period which ends on May 18, the CMA will have until June 30 to assess its findings and decide whether to proceed to an in-depth \u201cphase 2\u201d investigation.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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Science, Tech, Technology<\/br>
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\nSource:https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/2023\/05\/03\/adobes-20b-figma-acquisition-fall-on-uk-competition-radar\/<\/a><\/br><\/br><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Source:https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/2023\/05\/03\/adobes-20b-figma-acquisition-fall-on-uk-competition-radar\/ Adobe\u2019s $20B Figma acquisition falls on UK antitrust radar 2023-05-03 22:07:27 The U.K.\u2019s competition authority is adding Adobe\u2019s proposed $20 billion bid for digital design rival Figma to its ever-growing to-do list. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) confirmed today that it\u2019s launching an initial \u201cphase 1\u201d merger inquiry, with the relevant stakeholders given […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":30872,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"pagelayer_contact_templates":[],"_pagelayer_content":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[26,17,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-30871","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-science","category-tech","category-technology"],"yoast_head":"\n