European antitrust regulators are preparing to launch a formal investigation into software giant Adobe’s US$20-billion buyout deal for cloud-based designer platform Figma later this year, the Financial Times reported on Tuesday.

EU authorities plan to push forward with a detailed investigation over anti-competition concerns, which could take many months and may ultimately derail the deal altogether, the FT said, citing people with knowledge of the move.

These moves underline global regulators’ worries that large tech firms acquiring smaller innovative rivals could throttle competition.

Adobe is in the preliminary phase of the regulatory process and having constructive discussions with British, EU and US regulators about the deal while Figma looks forward to continued conversations with regulators, the companies said in separate e-mailed statements.

The report comes after Britain’s competition watchdog said last month that it was looking into the Adobe-Figma deal, while Bloomberg reported in February that the US justice department was preparing an antitrust lawsuit to block the deal.

EU regulators have earlier said that Adobe would need to secure antitrust approval for the Figma deal even though the deal falls short of the bloc’s turnover threshold for a review. — Lavanya Ahire, with Anusha S and Jose Joseph, (c) 2023 Reuters