Adobe Slammed With Antitrust Allegations

Antitrust concerns continue to hound the wider market

BREAKING NEWS

The U.K.'s Competition & Markets Authority has challenged Adobe's acquisition of Figma on antitrust grounds. What gives? 

WHAT HAPPENED

Adobe has already faced antitrust scrutiny for their 2022 acquisition of Figma here in the States. Basically, regulators are concerned that Adobe owning Figma would substantially hurt competition in the design world as Figma managed to turn into a pretty solid competitor to the wider Adobe creative suite despite their origins as a web design tool. 

NEW CHALLENGES

Now, the UK's competition watchdog has announced that this acquisition could result in a 'substantial lessening of competition' for a number of key markets in the UK. The CMA was explicit in saying that the merger won't hurt the video editing or motion graphics spaces, but Adobe and Figma represent a functional monopoly for some of the fastest-growing sectors within the design industry. 

WHY IT MATTERS

Adobe has already generated tremendous value from potentially adding Figma to their suite of tools. Since the acquisition, Adobe has also added far more 'freemium' offerings to their online suite and supercharged some of those with new AI features. While the UK challenging this won't hurt as much as the U.S. or the EU, this could still present a significant speedbump for a stock that has been soaring thanks to their position within the AI space. Adobe stock responded to the new scrutiny by falling just under 1% at market open but has largely shaken off that sell pressure as trading continued throughout the day.