Adobe Inc. and Figma Inc. have terminated their merger deal, which is valued at $20 billion. It was reported that the cancellation of the agreement was a mutual decision.
Adobe and Figma said on Monday, Dec. 18, that they decided to call off their merger bid after facing issues with competition regulators in the United Kingdom. As per CNBC, shares of Adobe shot up to about 1.8% in the pre-market after the news made headlines.
Initial Announcement of the Acquisition Deal
Adobe's acquisition of Figma was first revealed in September 2020. The agreed payment terms were a cash-and-stock deal worth about $20 billion. At that time, the stock price of the San Jose, California-headquartered computer software company plummeted on the news. Still, Adobe explained that the merger would significantly boost its portfolio.
To further convince the market that the deal is beneficial, the company said at that time that "the combination of Adobe and Figma will usher in a new era of collaborative creativity." However, the deal could not immediately proceed since the companies' merger must first be approved by the competition watchdogs.
Now, with the deal's termination, Adobe is required to compensate Figma with a $1 billion breakup fee. The company indicated the charge in its recent regulatory filing.
Canceled Deal After Hitting Regulator Roadblock
Antitrust regulators have recently been scrutinizing a good number of tech deals involving both minor and major firms. In the case of Adobe and Figma's agreement, the companies determined that they were not likely to get approvals from the U.K.'s Competition and Markets Authority and the European Commission. This realization led to their decision not to move forward with their merger.
"Adobe and Figma strongly disagree with the recent regulatory findings, but we believe it is in our respective best interests to move forward independently," Adobe's chairman and chief executive officer, Shantanu Narayen, said in a press release. "While Adobe and Figma shared a vision to jointly redefine the future of creativity and productivity, we continue to be well positioned to capitalize on our massive market opportunity and mission to change the world through personalized digital experiences."
Photo by: Szabo Viktor/Unsplash


Macquarie Names Greg Ward as CEO, Signaling Stability and Strategic Continuity
Scandinavian Tobacco Group Sells BREAK and Moro Brands to Japan Tobacco for €176 Million
Wistron Opens $700M Texas AI Factory to Build Nvidia Superchips in U.S.
Intel, AMD Seek Long-Term China Server CPU Deals as AI Demand Drives Supply Crunch
Super Micro Computer Stock Jumps 20% After Record AI Orders and Margin Surge
GE Vernova Q2 Revenue Tops Estimates as Earnings Miss, Shares Slide Despite Higher 2026 Outlook
Morgan Stanley Downgrades Adobe, Workday as AI Transition Raises Growth Concerns
Samsung Eyes Up to $1.14 Billion Investment in AI Startup Mistral
SpaceX Q2 Earnings on Aug. 4 Set Stage for Historic Insider Share Unlock
IBM Q2 Earnings Miss Estimates as Software Growth Offsets Infrastructure Weakness
Nvidia Reveals 9.3% Stake in AI Cloud Firm Nebius Following $2 Billion Investment
Wistron Opens $700M Texas AI Factory to Build Nvidia GB300 Superchips
Belimo H1 Sales Surge as AI Data Center Cooling Drives More Than Half of Growth
KPMG Australia Appoints John Sams as CEO Following Audit Leak Scandal
Chalco Shares Jump as Chinalco Plans Up to $300 Million Stake Increase
ASML Trillion-Dollar Valuation: Can Europe’s AI Chip Giant Reach the Historic Milestone?
Judge Approves Anthropic’s $1.5 Billion AI Copyright Settlement With Authors 



