David Wadhwani
President, Digital Media Business
We’re thrilled to announce Adobe’s intent to acquire Figma.
A new era of collaborative creativity.
It’s a big day for our teams at Adobe and Figma as we announce our plan to come together. We want to share “the why” behind this decision and our excitement for what this means for our respective products and communities.
Our passion at Adobe is about empowering the world to create digital experiences across photography, imaging, illustration, video, animation, 3D and more. Whether through internal innovation or acquisitions of incredible teams and technology along the way, we have consistently aspired to accelerate every creative segment and empower everyone to tell their stories and express their ideas.
Over the years, we’ve been constantly reminded that the act of creation is dynamic and ever-changing. Today is no exception.
Creativity is becoming more collaborative, and as more of our everyday life takes place within web and mobile applications, product designers increasingly favor the benefits of working in a web browser with their stakeholders.
As a result, product design has emerged as a uniquely collaborative discipline, driven by powerful design systems and a rich, extensible ecosystem.
Figma is a rare, generational team. They bet on the browser early and unlocked entirely new ways for people to collaborate. They were the first to recognize that product design is so much more than just the tooling: it starts with brainstorming across all stakeholders; it’s inherently multi-player and web-based; and it requires sophisticated design systems and analytical capabilities. They’ve proven that the browser can be a rich design surface and that a true multi-player user experience can profoundly benefit product designers, product developers and other stakeholders.
Together, our teams bring together amazing expertise in core creative technology and a platform for web-based, collaborative applications. The combination gives us opportunities in three areas that make us better together:
Advancing product design
By bringing powerful capabilities from Adobe’s imaging, photography, illustration, video, 3D and font technologies into the Figma platform, we can benefit all customers involved in the product design process, from designers to product managers to developers. Figma’s community will ultimately have a continuous user experience across ideation, screen layout, interaction design and content editing, allowing product designers and their stakeholders to operate at a whole new level.
Defining a new era of collaborative creativity on the web
Adobe’s technology and Figma’s platform also allow us to reimagine creative segments beyond product design. Together, we can make the future of imaging, photography, illustration, video and 3D more accessible and more collaborative than ever before.
Reimagining the future of creativity and productivity
The productivity tools of the future will be web-based, multi-player, and infused with a new generation of capabilities for creative expression that Adobe is uniquely positioned to provide. This is the mission we’re on with Adobe Express. Figma, with their introduction of FigJam, entered the exciting (and dynamic!) whiteboarding and ideation space. By bringing together capabilities for brainstorming, content creation and collaboration, we have an opportunity to provide communicators, knowledge workers, and creators with a new generation of productivity tools.
Figma has built a phenomenal team, product and community and we want to preserve this. I’ve been talking to Dylan, Figma’s co-founder and CEO, for a few months and have left every conversation inspired by our shared vision, passion and purpose. Dylan will continue running the business with autonomy and we’ll work closely with him and the team to bring the very best of Adobe to solve customer problems, unlock new creative capabilities using our core technology, and continue Figma’s success in market. We have no plan to change Figma’s prices. We also share their commitment to education; their products will remain free for students and educators.
To Dylan and the entire Figmate family and community: welcome! I joined Adobe through the acquisition of Macromedia. I felt immediately welcomed and empowered to participate in shaping the future of Adobe. We learned a lot from each other and a lot from our communities – and in the process, created a better Adobe. Sixteen years later, I’m still inspired by our mission to unlock the creative potential in everyone. I can’t wait to work with all of you as we imagine a bold future together.
About Adobe
As one of the largest and most diversified software companies in the world, Adobe enables everyone — including students, creative artists, small businesses, government agencies, and the largest global brands — to design and deliver exceptional digital experiences.
Our strategy for unleashing creativity, accelerating document productivity, and powering digital businesses gives our customers a real competitive advantage, enabling them to engage their constituents across every digital touch point. Our relentless focus on innovation; our category leadership with Adobe Creative Cloud, Adobe Document Cloud, and Adobe Experience Cloud; the large and expanding market opportunities we target; and our track record of successful execution against our strategy position us for continued growth well into the future.
Headquartered in San Jose, California, and with a diverse global population of more than 26,000 employees, Adobe achieved revenue of US$15.79 billion in fiscal 2021. Our stock is traded on the NASDAQ under the symbol ADBE.
About Figma
Figma is a design platform for teams who build products together. Born on the Web, Figma helps teams brainstorm, design, and build better products— from start to finish. Whether it’s consolidating tools, simplifying workflows, or collaborating across teams and time zones, Figma makes the design process faster, more efficient, and fun while keeping everyone on the same page.
Forward-Looking Statements Disclosure
In addition to historical information, this communication contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of applicable securities law, including statements regarding the expected timing, completion and effects of the proposed transaction, product plans, future growth, market opportunities, strategic initiatives, industry positioning, and customer acquisition and retention. In addition, when used in this communication, the words “will,” “expects,” “could,” “would,” “may,” “anticipates,” “intends,” “plans,” “believes,” “seeks,” “targets,” “estimates,” “looks for,” “looks to,” “continues” and similar expressions, as well as statements regarding our focus for the future, are generally intended to identify forward-looking statements. Each of the forward-looking statements we make in this communication involves risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from these forward-looking statements. Factors that might cause or contribute to such differences include, but are not limited to: expected revenues, cost savings, synergies and other benefits from the proposed transaction, such as Adobe’s ability to enhance Creative Cloud by adding Figma’s collaboration-first product design capabilities and the effectiveness of Figma’s technology, might not be realized within the expected time frames or at all and costs or difficulties relating to integration matters, including but not limited to customer and employee retention, might be greater than expected; the requisite regulatory approvals and clearances for the proposed transaction may be delayed or may not be obtained (or may result in the imposition of conditions that could adversely affect the combined company or the expected benefits of the proposed transaction); the requisite approval of Figma stockholders may be delayed or may not be obtained, the other closing conditions to the transaction may be delayed or may not be obtained, or the merger agreement may be terminated; business disruption may occur following or in connection with the proposed transaction; Adobe’s or Figma’s businesses may experience disruptions due to transaction-related uncertainty or other factors making it more difficult to maintain relationships with employees, customers, other business partners or governmental entities; the possibility that the proposed transaction is more expensive to complete than anticipated, including as a result of unexpected factors or events; diversion of management’s attention from ongoing business operations and opportunities as a result of the proposed transaction or otherwise and those factors discussed in the section titled “Risk Factors” in Adobe’s Annual Report on Form 10-K and Adobe’s Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q. The risks described in this communication and in Adobe’s filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) should be carefully reviewed. Undue reliance should not be placed on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date they are made. Adobe and Figma undertake no obligation to publicly release any revisions to the forward-looking statements or reflect events or circumstances after the date of this communication, except as required by law.
No Offer or Solicitation
This communication shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any securities, nor shall there be any sale of securities in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such jurisdiction. No offering of securities shall be made except by means of a prospectus meeting the requirements of Section 10 of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended.
Additional Information and Where to Find It
In connection with the proposed acquisition of Figma, Adobe will file a registration statement on Form S-4 with the SEC to register the shares of Adobe common stock to be issued in connection with the proposed transaction. The registration statement will include a consent solicitation statement/prospectus, which will be sent to the stockholders of Figma seeking their approval of the proposed transaction.
INVESTORS AND SECURITY HOLDERS ARE URGED TO READ THE REGISTRATION STATEMENT ON FORM S-4, THE CONSENT SOLICITATION STATEMENT/PROSPECTUS INCLUDED WITHIN THE REGISTRATION STATEMENT ON FORM S-4 AND ANY OTHER RELEVANT DOCUMENTS FILED OR TO BE FILED WITH THE SEC IN CONNECTION WITH THE PROPOSED TRANSACTION WHEN THEY BECOME AVAILABLE BECAUSE THESE DOCUMENTS DO AND WILL CONTAIN IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT ADOBE, FIGMA AND THE PROPOSED TRANSACTION.
Investors and security holders may obtain copies of these documents, when available, as well as other documents filed by Adobe with the SEC, free of charge from the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov or by accessing Adobe’s website at http://www.adobe.com/investor-relations or by contacting Adobe’s Investor Relations department by calling (408) 536-4700, by writing to Investor Relations, Adobe Inc., 345 Park Avenue, San Jose, California 95110-2704 or by sending an email to adobe@kpcorp.com.