Exclusive-Adobe open to remedy discussions with EU on Figma deal, chief counsel says

By Foo Yun Chee

BRUSSELS (Reuters) -Photoshop maker Adobe expects to get an EU antitrust warning on its $20 billion bid for cloud-based designer platform Figma and is open to proposing remedies to resolve regulatory concerns, its chief counsel told Reuters on Wednesday.

The Adobe deal comes amid heightened regulatory scrutiny around the world on Big Tech acquisitions which boost dominant companies' market power or those involving start-ups seen as nascent rivals.

"We are expecting a statement of objections from the European Commission," Dana Rao said in an interview, confirming a Reuters story on Tuesday.

"We are certainly open to the discussion of remedies. We absolutely want this deal to go through," he said.

Rao said any potential remedies would depend on the European Commission's document which will flesh out concerns voiced when the EU competition enforcer opened a full-scale investigation in August. The charge sheet could also contain new worries or drop other concerns.

"But as I said, until we see the statement of objections and see exactly what the concerns are, we will be designing a solution without knowing what the problem is," Rao said.

Rao said Adobe does not compete with Figma in any meaningful way and that the only product relevant to this question was its design tool for web and mobile applications called Adobe XD, which has lost $25 million as a standalone app over the last three years and has only five full-time employees.

(Reporting by Foo Yun Chee; Editing by Kirsten Donovan and Will Dunham)