Adobe agrees to buy Figma in $20 billion software deal

Adobe Inc. agreed to buy software design startup Figma Inc. in a deal valued at about $20 billion to help it expand tools for creative professionals.

The deal announced by Adobe, which is a mix of half cash and half stock, confirms an earlier Bloomberg report and would mark the biggest ever takeover of a private software company, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Adobe shares fell about 9% in premarket trading.

Figma, which allows customers to collaborate on software as they build it, saw demand jump during the pandemic while more people worked remotely. The company expanded its customer base in recent years from software designers at big companies like Airbnb Inc., Google, Herman Miller and Kimberly-Clark Corp.