Adobe will defend the Figma deal at the Dec. 8 EU hearing, sources say. On Wednesday, two individuals acquainted with the situation stated that Adobe (ADBE.O) would attempt to defend itself against EU antitrust claims that its proposed purchase of cloud-based designer platform Figma, valued at $20 billion, would be detrimental to competition. The hearing will take place on December 8.
Figma, the current market leader in the field of interactive product design software, is in rivalry with Adobe. Two weeks ago, the European Commission issued a warning that the purchase might potentially limit competition in the worldwide market for the supply of such software.
According to the statement, the purchase would eliminate Figma as a rival in the provision of vector editing tools and the supply of raster editing tools, therefore strengthening Adobe’s position as the dominant provider of Photoshop.
Corporations participating in hearings can submit their views before senior Commission officials, attorneys, and national antitrust watchdogs. Competitors and members of the public who are interested can also attend.
Even though the EU antitrust enforcer is scheduled to decide on the merger by February 5th, they declined to comment.
Dana Rao, Adobe’s general counsel, has told Reuters that the company is willing to consider putting forth solutions to address regulatory concerns.
The transaction has also caused alarm in the United Kingdom, with the country’s competition watchdog stating on Tuesday that it may be detrimental to the development of software utilized by the great majority of digital designers in the United Kingdom.
