The Bloc is worried that the deal could “reduce competition in the global markets for the supply of interactive product design software and digital asset creation tools.”

The Commission now has until 14 December to decide on the next steps. These might involve demanding remediations to approve the deal, blocking the merger from going ahead entirely, or giving approval if the EU’s early concerns are shown to be groundless.

In a press release, the European Commission outlined the transaction's potential impact on the supply of interactive product design tools and digital asset creation tools as its primary concern.

The Commission will also be investigating if bundling Figma with Adobe’s Creative Cloud suite has the potential to foreclose rival software providers.

The EU Commission started assessing the deal back in February and said it would assess the acquisition following requests from at least sixteen member states. Based on the information provided by those countries, the Commission concluded that the transaction threatened to “significantly affect competition in the market for interactive product design and whiteboarding software.”

For those who came in late, Adobe announced that it was acquiring Figma for approximately $20 billion in September last year.

Adobe’s bid drew early criticism not only because Wall Street felt it was wildly overpriced but also because of the similarity between Adobe’s own product design platform, Adobe XD, and Figma’s more popular service. Adobe started phasing XD out of general availability after announcing the deal. Still, regulators are concerned that giving Adobe control over one of the few alternatives in the product design software market could stifle competition and innovation.