Adobe Is Trying to Spend $20 Billion to Buy Back Its Swagger
The company sees buying Figma as a way to overhaul its business, but critics see echoes of Facebook’s alleged practice of buying up its competition. Regulators could still block it.
In October, Adobe Inc. held its annual event to announce new products. As executives stood onstage explaining changes to the company’s decades-old tools such as Photoshop that would make them more like that of Figma, the startup it had just agreed to acquire for $20 billion, some people watching the livestream expressed their concern that Figma would become more like Adobe instead. Messages like “#FreeFigma” and “Make Figma Great Again” dotted the comments section, while others groused about Adobe’s prices and shared tips about cheaper alternatives. Eventually a moderator chided everyone to “keep it civil in the chat.”
The event came a month after Adobe announced it was purchasing Figma, a deal it says is the centerpiece of one of the biggest transformations in its 40-year history. Adobe plans to complete the transaction next year, but that may be complicated by the revelation on Nov. 2 that the Justice Department is investigating the deal. The DOJ has begun talking to customers and rivals, suggesting a challenging regulatory review that could drag on for years.