Adobe to buy Figma for $20B to boost arsenal of collaborative design tools

Adobe logo is seen on smartphone in this illustration. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File photo

Adobe Inc said on Thursday it would buy online design startup Figma for about $20 billion to expand its portfolio of collaboration-focused platforms geared for the hybrid-work era.

The premier software firm that houses the industry’s most renowned graphics and photo editing applications such as Photoshop and After Effects has been increasingly venturing into the collaboration tools space.

The cash-and-stock deal for Figma gives Adobe ownership of a company whose online collaborative platform for designs and brainstorming is used by firms from Zoom Video Communications to AirBnB and Coinbase.

Shares of Adobe, which had cash and cash equivalents of $3.87 billion as of Sept. 2, were down nearly 8 percent in premarket trading.

The company also reported its earnings on Thursday, with its fourth-quarter revenue forecast of $4.52 billion coming in below the $4.58 billion estimated by analysts, according to Refinitiv data.