Figma informs employees that the deal with Adobe to buy the UX design outfit has collapsed

The multi-billion dollar acquisition deal of Figma by Adobe was expected to deliver a windfall for the staff of the software firm. However, after regulators failed to be convinced that the Adobe-Figma merger would not equate to a creativity software monopoly, the deal was off. On December 18, the US employees of Figma were notified via Slack and email notifications that the $20 billion deal was dead.

Figma called its 1,300 staff back from vacation to attend an emergency optional town hall that reviewed the future of the company in the aftermath of the scuttled Adobe deal. The town hall lasted 60 minutes and CEO Dylan Field said that the decision to call off the merger was jointly reached by both companies.

Figma will receive a $1 billion breakup fee from Adobe but it is unclear when this payment will be made. A Figma spokesperson said that the money will be used to accelerate the impact but the allocation template was yet to be decided.

Adobe and Figma failed to convince European Union lawmakers about the propriety of the deal. There had been a suspicion that the merger could create a creative software monopoly and this is a red flag for regulators. The talks extended for 15 months and Figma stated that despite thousands of hours spent with regulators detailing differences between both companies, they no longer see a path toward regulatory approval.

Figma would have gotten a huge windfall from the Adobe deal if it had sailed through. Co-founder and CEO Dylan Field would have gotten a 10% stake worth $2 billion. Employees were also expecting substantial payouts that would have enabled some of them to become homeowners. Figmates (as Figma staff are called internally) were expecting over 40% of their salaries when the deal closed, it was reported.

A cloud of disappointment has thus pervaded the Figma workforce after the announcement, but they are now bracing for the future. Figma remains a stable company with a positive outlook and decent performance in 2023. the company recently launched an innovative design keyboard. With its innovations, the company could therefore still get a big breakthrough in the next couple of years.

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