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Adobe to acquire Figma

The companies confirmed the news Thursday morning. Bloomberg reported the price tag may be more than $15 billion.

3d illustration of a Figma icon

According to Figma, the deal has been in the works for several months.

Image: GuerrillaBuzz Crypto PR via Unsplash

Adobe is buying Figma. After Bloomberg reported the deal Thursday morning, both companies released announcements confirming the news. "With access to @Adobe's deep expertise and technology, we believe @Figma will be able to achieve our vision of 'making design accessible to all' even faster," Figma CEO Dylan Field tweeted.

According to Figma's announcement, the deal has been in the works for several months. Bloomberg reported the deal may be for more than $15 billion. Figma's goal is to use Adobe's resources to "to make design and developer tools more collaborative and accessible." Adobe pointed to Figma's early bet on browser-based collaboration and its ability to bring Adobe's design tools into the future. "The productivity tools of the future will be web-based, multi-player, and infused with a new generation of capabilities," Adobe chief business officer David Wadhwani wrote in his announcement.

Figma has been steadily eating away at Adobe's user base since its inception in 2012. Even Microsoft, a loyal Adobe customer for decades, couldn't keep employees away from Figma. Figma became the most popular tool across the tech design community and jumped into more general collaboration with whiteboard FigJam in 2021. Meanwhile, Adobe has faced dropping shares and grave concerns from investors on its ability to grow with upstarts like Figma and Canva in the mix. The old tech giants are showing their age — perhaps Adobe realized it was time for some new blood.

Lizzy Lawrence

Lizzy Lawrence ( @LizzyLaw_) is a reporter at Protocol, covering tools and productivity in the workplace. She's a recent graduate of the University of Michigan, where she studied sociology and international studies. She served as editor in chief of The Michigan Daily, her school's independent newspaper. She's based in D.C., and can be reached at llawrence@protocol.com.

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