15 months ago, in a $20 billion deal that has under regulatory scrutiny, Adobe announced the acquisition of Figma—its biggest rival in digital design. now come apart Understandably, the announcement was met with some concern—and, for some individual designers and developers, a sense of betrayal. For these enthused users - at the time - Figma represented a cheaper (free) and way to execute the design and prototyping of digital interfaces in a cloud-based environment. Adobe XD, on the other hand, started at $10/month, offering similar functionality but with a interface. 4 million strong better “clunkier” and somewhat “awkward” As Figma users nursed fears that their free, accessible tool would eventually exist behind Adobe’s paywall, antitrust bells rang out over the nature of the deal—never mind that its shiny acquisition couldn’t be considered a direct competitor. Barely a month after the initial announcement, the to better understand its deal with Figma in what would’ve been one of the largest takeovers of a private software company ever. Adobe’s insistence U.S. Department of  Justice probed Adobe The DOJ continued to monitor the deal all through 2023, with no lawsuits as yet. However, Britain’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) took a more proactive approach. Last month, it maintained that the Adobe-figma merger would “ ” for software used by the majority of UK designers. The CMA’s position and subsequent decision to thoroughly investigate the potential merger was supported by a similar . harm innovation European Union Probe that both Adobe and Figma kept frequent contact with antitrust agencies in the U.S., EU, and UK to try and get the merger over the line. However, UK regulators highlighted that it would require remedies for Adobe to divest Figma design, a core asset of the acquisition. In response to this, Adobe pointed out that the required remedies adversely affected a core benefit of the deal, effectively defeating its purpose. Reuters reports The Photoshop owner still maintains that it doesn’t compete with Figma in any meaningful way. At least, not enough to trigger the antitrust Avengers. It argued that Adobe XD,  its only product that could spark antitrust chatter in the given context, wasn’t much of a competition as it had lost $25 million as a stand-alone app over the last 3 years. Adobe Chair and CEO, Shantanu Narayen, shared in a on Monday, Dec 18, that “Adobe and Figma strongly disagree with the recent regulatory findings, but we believe it is in our respective best interests to move forward independently.” press release Dylan Field, Figma CEO and Co-founder, mirrored Adobe’s exasperated tone in a short . “Figma and Adobe have reached a joint decision to end our pending acquisition. It’s not the outcome we had hoped for, but despite thousands of hours spent with regulators around the world detailing differences between our businesses, our products, and the markets we serve, we no longer see a path toward regulatory approval of the deal.” blog post While both parties walked away from the deal with a sour taste in their mouths, Figma retained its independence with a not-too-shabby $1 billion for its troubles, triggered by a . clause in the merger agreement Adobe came in at on this week’s HackerNoon Tech Company Rankings, while Figma finished at #697 #2719 👋 You’re reading of HackerNoon's Tech Company News Brief, a weekly collection of tech goodness that combines HackerNoon's proprietary data with internet trends to determine which companies are rising and falling in the public consciousness. goes live tomorrow. Hate waiting? No problemo! Just subscribe to receive the newsletter part 1 Part 2 here complete a day early in your inbox. In Other News… The EU goes after X (formerly Twitter) in its first illegal content probe - Reuters Google set to pay $700 million as part of its Play Store dispute settlement - TechCrunch Lawmakers ask the DOJ to probe Apple for shuttering iMessage apps - Bloomberg Tesla recalls nearly all 2 million of its vehicles in the US - CNN Pakistan’s former prime minister uses AI voice clone to campaign from prison - The Verge This brings us to the end of this News Brief. Don’t forget to share this newsletter with your family, friends, and everyone else. See you next week! , Editor, World News & Scifi @ HackerNoon. Asher Umerie All rankings are current as of Monday. To see how the rankings have changed, please visit HackerNoon's page. Tech Company Rankings

This story contains new, firsthand information uncovered by the writer.

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Adobe and Figma Abandon $20 Billion Merger Over Regulatory Concerns

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