British regulator: Adobe's $20 billion acquisition of Figma will hurt competition

CTOnews.com, Nov. 28 (Xinhua) Photoshop owner Adobe's $20 billion acquisition of cloud-based designer platform Figma "may damage the innovation of the software used by the vast majority of British digital designers," the British competition regulator said on Tuesday.

The UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said the deal would eliminate competition and remove Figma from the threat of Adobe's flagship products, Photoshop and Illustrator. These are the preliminary results of an in-depth investigation launched by CMA in July, when Adobe refused to offer concessions to allay its concerns.

CMA said its findings were provisional and was willing to consult with interested parties before making a final decision.

CTOnews.com reported earlier this month that EU regulators also formally filed antitrust charges against the deal, arguing that if the deal is successful, it could "significantly reduce" global market competition for interactive product design tools, vector editing tools and raster editing tools. The US Department of Justice is also rumored to be preparing an antitrust lawsuit to block the deal.