Adobe Systems Incorporated (NASDAQ:ADBE) will not provide any undertakings to ease the concerns of the competition and markets authority regarding its planned US$20bln acquisition of app development firm Figma.
In late June, the regulator ruled that the merger would reduce competition in the screen design software market and therefore asked the US company to “offer acceptable undertakings to address these concerns.”
Following Adobe’s failure to ease the CMA’s worries, the authority will now launch a phase two “in-depth investigation” into the deal.
The deadline for phase two of the investigation is December 27.
Prior to the announcement of the deal Figma’s web design software was in direct competition with Adobe’s product XD.
In the CMA’s report last month, it stated: “Competition between Figma and Adobe has driven investment in updating and developing screen design software, and this important rivalry could be lost if the deal goes ahead.”
In May, the CMA reached headlines after rejecting Microsoft’s planned acquisition of Activision Blizzard.
However, earlier this week courts in the US told the federal trade commission it could not block the US$69bln deal.
The CMA quickly responded by saying it would reconsider the ban it imposed on the merger.