The Justice Department is preparing an antitrust lawsuit seeking to block Adobe’s $20 billion acquisition of startup Figma, Bloomberg News reported, citing people familiar with the matter.
The deal, announced last year, would help Adobe spur fast growth to its portfolio and pick up technology that could enhance existing programs in the Creative Cloud bundle that businesses and independent designers use.
In a statement, Adobe took exception with the idea that the deal is anti-competitive, arguing that the two companies are looking at very different markets, creativity and collaboration.
Read more: EU Regulators To Asses Adobe’s $20 Billion Figma Deal
“Figma is a leader in interactive product design, focused on building a collaborative web platform. Adobe is a leader in the creative tools space, helping millions of users create amazing visual content. Together, our vision will help enable millions of consumers to transform their productivity with creativity,” the company said.
This US probe comes weeks after the EU announced plans to review the deal on competition concerns. The UK’s competition arm is also looking closely at the proposed acquisition.
