London, Aug 8 (IANS): The European Union has opened an in-depth antitrust investigation into software major Adobe’s bid to acquire product design platform Figma for $20 billion, saying that the transaction may reduce competition in the global markets for the supply of interactive product design software and for digital asset creation tools.

The Commission's preliminary investigation indicates that the transaction may allow Adobe to restrict competition in the global markets for the supply of interactive product design tools.

“Adobe and Figma are close competitors and that the transaction would remove an important competitive force, and the unlikely timely and credible entry of other players in the market,” the commission said in a statement.

Furthermore, the Commission will further investigate whether the transaction may foreclose rival providers of interactive product design tools by bundling Figma with Adobe's Creative Cloud suite.

“Adobe and Figma are two leading providers of software for the creative community in the digital sphere. With our in-depth investigation we aim to ensure that users continue to have access to a wide pool of digital creative tools among which to choose,” said Margrethe Vestager, Executive Vice-President in charge of competition policy.

The Commission now has 90 working days, until December 14, to make a decision.