A senior Adobe executive has accused the UK’s competition regulator of stifling innovation by taking too long to scrutinise mergers and acquisitions.
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said last month that it expects to block Adobe’s $20bn (£15.8bn) deal to acquire design software firm Figma.
Speaking to The Times, David Wadhwani, president of Adobe’s Digital Media business, said: “The process should not take 15 months to get to this stage.
“I think we can all agree that expediting these kinds of decisions is important for innovation and for doing the right thing by consumers and customers to make these decisions faster and move more quickly.”
In a provisional report following an in-depth probe in July, the CMA said the deal would harm innovation for software used by the “vast majority” of UK digital designers.
A final decision on the deal is expected by the end of February 2024.
Wadhwani’s comments will put further pressure on the CMA, which has come under fire for blocking tech deals.
Most notably, it blocked Microsoft’s acquisition of games publisher Activision in April, drawing similar accusations of stifling innovation from Microsoft president Brad Smith.
The competition regulator later approved the £56bn merger after Microsoft restructured the deal.
The role of competition regulation is at the centre of the Digital Markets Bill, which is currently progressing through the House of Lords.
The government is considering changes to the bill that would create a broader appeals system, giving the biggest tech firms greater scope to conduct lengthy and expensive legal challenges to decisions from regulators.
Baroness Stowell, Tory peer and chair of the House of Lords Communications and Digital Committee, has urged the government to not bow to pressure from Big Tech and undermine the authority of regulators.