figmaDec 17, 2023

Figma and Adobe are abandoning our proposed merger | Figma Blog (opens in new tab)

Figma and Adobe jointly ended their proposed acquisition after 15 months of regulatory review, concluding that approval was no longer achievable. Although the merger was intended to accelerate both companies’ impact, Figma will remain independent and explore future partnerships with Adobe. CEO Dylan Field framed the decision as a renewed opportunity to pursue Figma’s original mission: helping people turn ideas into digital products. ## Why the Merger Was Abandoned - The companies spent thousands of hours addressing regulators’ concerns worldwide. - Despite explaining the differences between their businesses, products, and markets, they no longer saw a viable path to approval. - The decision was made jointly, ending the pending acquisition. ## Figma’s Progress During the Review - Figma continued shipping products despite the uncertainty surrounding the acquisition, including: - Native AI features for FigJam - Dev Mode for improving the handoff between designers and developers - Variables - Advanced prototyping - The company also: - Opened new hubs in the United Kingdom and Asia - Hosted Config 2023 in San Francisco - Acquired AI startup Diagram - Added more than 500 employees ## Figma’s Independent Direction - Figma will continue operating as an independent company. - The company remains focused on eliminating the gap between imagination and reality. - Field sees the growth of the digital economy and advances in AI as making this mission more urgent and attainable. - Figma aims to support the entire product-development process on a single multiplayer canvas, from ideation through production. Figma’s practical next step is to maintain its independent momentum, deepen its design-to-development platform, and use AI and collaboration tools to help more people build digital products.

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figmaNov 15, 2023

The Figma + Adobe Deal, Explained | Figma Blog (opens in new tab)

Figma’s post explains why it believed its proposed acquisition by Adobe would benefit users and withstand regulatory scrutiny. It presents Figma as a collaborative tool for building digital products, distinct from Adobe’s traditional creative software, and emphasizes a broad, fast-changing competitive landscape. However, the deal was ultimately abandoned on December 18, 2023, after the companies concluded that regulatory approval was unlikely. ## Figma’s Role in Digital Product Development - Figma describes itself as a web-based platform for teams building apps and websites. - Its tools support multiple stages of development: - **FigJam** for brainstorming and concepting - **Figma** for interface design and prototyping - **Dev Mode** for helping developers translate designs into code - The company says it spent thousands of hours explaining its products and market to competition regulators. ## Product Design vs. Traditional Graphic Design - Figma focuses on creating interactive digital products rather than static advertisements, illustrations, or posters. - Building an app or website requires collaboration among designers, developers, product managers, and other specialists. - This broader, team-oriented workflow has contributed to the growth of the product development software market. ## A Broad and Competitive Market - Figma portrays its market as highly dynamic, with both comprehensive platforms and specialized tools. - Competitors and adjacent products mentioned include: - Sketch, Penpot, and Figma - Miro, Flinto, Anima, ProtoPie, and Zeplin - Salesforce’s low-code development tools - The company argues that new startups and products enter the market frequently, while AI is accelerating innovation. - Figma says its competitive landscape slide became outdated only three weeks after it was created. ## Adobe’s Position - Adobe XD had previously competed with Figma but was placed into maintenance mode after Adobe stopped developing new features. - Photoshop and Illustrator serve different purposes, such as photo editing and advanced illustration. - Figma argues that those tools are not designed for collaborative website and application development. ## The Proposed Benefits of Combining Figma and Adobe - Figma contributes collaborative product design and development expertise. - Adobe contributes widely used creative tools and access to hundreds of millions of users. - Figma argued that the companies’ complementary strengths could create new consumer benefits, including closer connections between design, creativity, and product development. - The proposed acquisition was announced on September 15, 2022, as a major collaboration between the companies. ## Regulatory Outcome - Despite Figma’s efforts to demonstrate that the deal would benefit users and occur in a competitive market, regulatory concerns continued for fifteen months. - On December 18, 2023, Figma and Adobe abandoned the proposed acquisition because they no longer saw a path to regulatory approval.

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figmaSep 14, 2022

A New Collaboration with Adobe | Figma Blog (opens in new tab)

Figma announced in September 2022 that Adobe would acquire it, presenting the deal as a way to accelerate Figma’s mission of making design and development more collaborative and accessible. Figma said it would remain operationally autonomous, with Dylan Field continuing as CEO and the product, culture, pricing, and education offerings largely unchanged. However, the proposed acquisition was ultimately abandoned in December 2023 after the companies concluded they could not obtain regulatory approval. ## Strategic Opportunity - Adobe’s technology, expertise, and resources were expected to accelerate Figma’s growth and innovation. - Figma highlighted potential access to Adobe capabilities in: - Imaging and photography - Illustration and video - 3D tools - Font technology - The companies also planned to explore new creative tools built on Figma’s collaborative technology. ## Figma’s Continued Autonomy - Adobe committed to keeping Figma operationally independent. - Dylan Field would remain CEO and report to Adobe executive David Wadhwani. - The entire Figma team would continue reporting through Field. - Figma said it would keep prioritizing its community, culture, and existing business practices. ## Product and Community Plans - Figma intended to continue improving: - Figma Design - FigJam - The Figma community platform - The company planned to expand into new areas while considering whether new capabilities should become separate products or be integrated into existing tools. - The Friends of Figma program would continue supporting local communities. - Figma said it had no plans to change pricing in the near term. - Figma’s education offering would remain free, with Adobe supporting efforts to grow the global population of designers, developers, and creatives. ## Broader Responsibility - Field described the acquisition as an opportunity to help build the next generation of creative tools. - He connected that responsibility to the rise of AI-generated content and growing questions about the role of human creativity. - He also reflected on Adobe’s influence in his own creative development and expressed optimism about working with the company. ## Final Outcome - The announcement was subject to regulatory, shareholder, and other closing conditions. - On December 18, 2023, Figma and Adobe ended the proposed acquisition because they no longer saw a viable path toward regulatory approval.

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