Adobe Acquires Design Platform Figma for $20 Billion

Adobe, an American leading multimedia software company whose popular products include Acrobat Reader, Lightroom, and Photoshop, has acquired Figma, an online collaboration tool for designers with a user base of over 4 million.

Citing its own sources, Bloomberg was the first to report a likely agreement, and then Adobe officially confirmed the purchase of Figma on its blog. The deal amounted to $20 billion, which Bloomberg calls the largest takeover of a software company.

Adobe will pay for half of the deal in cash and another half with its shares. Following the completion of the deal, co-founder and CEO of Figma Dylan Field will continue to run the company, reporting to David Wadhwani, Adobe's chief business officer. Until the transaction is completed, each company will continue to operate independently.

Figma's blogpost also assured that even after the deal is completed, the service will continue to develop autonomously, and Figma will be able to use Adobe's resources "to make design and developer tools more collaborative and accessible."

Figma went up sharply during the pandemic due to the growing trend towards remote working. Its clients include well-known companies such as Airbnb, Google, Netflix, and Twitter. Major investors include venture capitalists Kleiner Perkins, Index Ventures, and Greylock Partners.

Over the past few years, Figma has become a rival to Adobe's XD service, which offers similar UI/UX design capabilities. Buying Figma will allow Adobe to expand its toolkit for creative professionals, and Adobe sees Figma as a valuable addition to its portfolio that will help it accelerate business growth and innovation.

The transaction will close in 2023, pending regulatory and other approvals, Adobe said.