**: Sina Technology.
Sina Science and Technology News reported on the evening of December 18, Beijing time, that Adobe announced on December 18 that the company would shelve the acquisition of the cloud design platform Figma by $20 billion in cash plus **. Adobe noted that the EU and UK antitrust authorities "do not give a clear path to approval".
Adobe and Figma unveiled the deal in September, and the proposed deal is the latest example of a major tech merger that regulators are scrutinizing. Regulators in several countries are concerned that such mergers and acquisitions will increase the market influence of big tech companies or have a serious impact on start-ups that are seen as new competitors.
Adobe, the developer of well-known software such as Photoshop and Illustrator, will pay Figma a $1 billion termination fee, and its shares fell by about 1.5 in premarket trading on Monday7%。
The UK's competition watchdog said earlier on Monday that Adobe would not propose remedial measures to address regulators' concerns about the acquisition.
The European Commission and the UK's Competition and Markets Authority did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Adobe has previously argued that it doesn't have any meaningful competition with Figma. The company also said in November that its only product related to antitrust issues was the Adobe XD design tool, which had lost $25 million as a standalone app over the past three years and currently has only five full-time employees.
"Adobe and Figma strongly disagree with the recent regulatory findings, but we believe it is in our respective best interests to move forward independently," Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen said in a statement Monday. ”
The deal was seen as Adobe's bet on the "future of work," but it sparked investor concerns because of its high price tag and shrank Adobe's market value by more than $30 billion at the time of the announcement.
It's also a major win for Figma's venture backers, who include Index Ventures, Greylock Partners and Kleiner Perkins.
Earlier this month, Adobe reported annual and quarterly revenue** that fell short of Wall Street expectations, and the company said tighter customer spending remained a drag on its results.