Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

DOJ Preps Antitrust Suit to Block Adobe’s $20B Figma Deal

bloomberg.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

31–40 of 89 posts

Re: DOJ Preps Antitrust Suit to Block Adobe’s $20B Figma Deal

#31

Post by senttoschool »

outside1234 wrote: post #10
AlexanderTheGr8 wrote: post #7

I would not be surprised if Adobe intentionally added monopolistic terms to their deal with Figma or acted that the deal was monopolistic in front of antitrust officials in the hope that they might block the deal, considering that they are paying $20B for something that, in today's market, is worth way less than that. If I am not mistaken, the fact that DOJ is preparing a suit means that the deal will not go through…

Figma will get $1B in breakup fees. Not sure that's a loss.

Figma will be fine but I'd rather have the deal go through if I worked at Figma.

Re: DOJ Preps Antitrust Suit to Block Adobe’s $20B Figma Deal

#32

Post by kijin »

triyambakam wrote: post #19
93po wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

thank god someone mentioned musk, i was starting to shake because it had been more than 30 seconds

In 20 years the coolest new startup will be called ELON

Perfect name if you want to develop electric rockets or somethin'.

Re: DOJ Preps Antitrust Suit to Block Adobe’s $20B Figma Deal

#33

Post by cmdialog »

j_crick wrote: post #25
obblekk wrote: post #8

In case you ever find yourself with as much leverage as Figma seemingly had… always negotiate a break up fee to compensate for exactly this. T-Mobile famously got a $4B breakup fee after DOJ blocked ATT from acquiring them. That $4B was used to buy more spectrum and overhaul the brand, leading to huge growth to the point that T-Mobile is now a big 3 player (it used to be big 2 only). If Figma wrangles $2-3B cash out…

> If Figma wrangles $2-3B cash out of this, they could probably take down the entire adobe ecosystem Do you think that just $2-3B would be enough to push for developing alternatives to at least Photoshop and Illustrator and Lightroom and After Effects and successfully going after their markets? During what timeframe? Doesn’t feel like it tbh.

A lot of designers are already abandoning Adobe because they are tired of their garbage. Many of my peers have turned to Serif Affinity apps as Photoshop/Illustrator/InDesign replacements and they do an incredible job. Nobody cares about Adobe on iPads, most artists are reaching for Procreate. Most of the issues involve sharing of files since Adobe has such a large share and their file types are proprietary.

There are alternatives out there and Figma has a huge grip on web design among other things. Adobe has nothing good for web design. Nobody wants to use XD.

So you can see that there is already strong push away from Adobe. I don't know if Figma is going to eat Adobe's lunch in the next couple years, but they will be poised to be competitive.

Re: DOJ Preps Antitrust Suit to Block Adobe’s $20B Figma Deal

#34

Post by dikaio »

cmdialog wrote: post #33
j_crick wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> If Figma wrangles $2-3B cash out of this, they could probably take down the entire adobe ecosystem Do you think that just $2-3B would be enough to push for developing alternatives to at least Photoshop and Illustrator and Lightroom and After Effects and successfully going after their markets? During what timeframe? Doesn’t feel like it tbh.

A lot of designers are already abandoning Adobe because they are tired of their garbage. Many of my peers have turned to Serif Affinity apps as Photoshop/Illustrator/InDesign replacements and they do an incredible job. Nobody cares about Adobe on iPads, most artists are reaching for Procreate. Most of the issues involve sharing of files since Adobe has such a large share and their file types are proprietary. There ar…

Agree. Installing one adobe app requires the installation of their app manager which sits in the background. Also the one app installed, installs and creates about 10 different directories, excess junk, pretty much what adobe has become. Now they try to buy out brilliant apps like figma which will only kill the life of it IMO.

Re: DOJ Preps Antitrust Suit to Block Adobe’s $20B Figma Deal

#35

Post by tyre »

jgalt212 wrote: post #16
outside1234 wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Figma will get $1B in breakup fees. Not sure that's a loss.

Not for Figma, but for the VC's who've already paid for new jets or 8 figure apartments.

Why would it not be for Figma? The VCs won’t get cash from selling shares in the acquisition because the acquisition won’t happen.

Re: DOJ Preps Antitrust Suit to Block Adobe’s $20B Figma Deal

#36

Post by radley »

triyambakam wrote: post #19
93po wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

thank god someone mentioned musk, i was starting to shake because it had been more than 30 seconds

In 20 years the coolest new startup will be called ELON

The nerdy one will be ELON. The cool one will be MUSK.

Re: DOJ Preps Antitrust Suit to Block Adobe’s $20B Figma Deal

#37

Post by dmitriid »

kijin wrote: post #32
triyambakam wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In 20 years the coolest new startup will be called ELON

Perfect name if you want to develop electric rockets or somethin'.

Home electronics shop in Sweden https://www.elon.se/vitvaror

Since 1967

Re: DOJ Preps Antitrust Suit to Block Adobe’s $20B Figma Deal

#38

Post by spaceguillotine »

cmdialog wrote: post #33
j_crick wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> If Figma wrangles $2-3B cash out of this, they could probably take down the entire adobe ecosystem Do you think that just $2-3B would be enough to push for developing alternatives to at least Photoshop and Illustrator and Lightroom and After Effects and successfully going after their markets? During what timeframe? Doesn’t feel like it tbh.

A lot of designers are already abandoning Adobe because they are tired of their garbage. Many of my peers have turned to Serif Affinity apps as Photoshop/Illustrator/InDesign replacements and they do an incredible job. Nobody cares about Adobe on iPads, most artists are reaching for Procreate. Most of the issues involve sharing of files since Adobe has such a large share and their file types are proprietary. There ar…

I tried using the Adobe iPad apps, they are so far behind the desktop versions its unreal. I got so frustrated with Illustrator i stopped using it and have been trying Inkscape on my desktop instead. I don't want monthly fees for design software. Procreate is amazing but lacks the vector needs I have. I've given up using my iPad Pro as anything more than a sketchpad at this point, not the Macbook replacement i wanted it to be with the lack of control over the OS and being stuck in the App Store eco system.

Affinity is looking pretty attractive now too after hearing about it today.

I cut my teeth on Macromedia Fireworks and Dreamweaver but all Adobe did was run them into the ground.

Re: DOJ Preps Antitrust Suit to Block Adobe’s $20B Figma Deal

#39

Post by vxNsr »

hn_throwaway_99 wrote: post #27
smcin wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Post-merger/acquisition of Sprint, yes (initiated in 2018 and finally allowed by regulators in 2020). Interesting detail about the prior 2014 Softbank/Sprint bid to acquire T-Mobile: > "It was reported that... Sprint had insisted on a low termination fee to prevent regulators from being given an incentive to block the deal, as had occurred with AT&T's failed attempt to purchase T-Mobile." https://en.wikipedia.org/wik…

I don't understand that. Why would a large termination fee be an incentive for regulators to block the deal?

Because it causes a large amount of money to go to underdog with basically no strings attached. It’s essentially free money to the smaller party which they could use to increase competition.

Re: DOJ Preps Antitrust Suit to Block Adobe’s $20B Figma Deal

#40

Post by rvz »

outside1234 wrote: post #10
AlexanderTheGr8 wrote: post #7

I would not be surprised if Adobe intentionally added monopolistic terms to their deal with Figma or acted that the deal was monopolistic in front of antitrust officials in the hope that they might block the deal, considering that they are paying $20B for something that, in today's market, is worth way less than that. If I am not mistaken, the fact that DOJ is preparing a suit means that the deal will not go through…

Figma will get $1B in breakup fees. Not sure that's a loss.

That is a loss with crushed dreams and ruined hopes for a massive payout.

More likely that Figma will instead use that extra $1B to fund for an IPO to make it up for this blocked acquisition.

Post reply on HN