The Competition and Markets Authority in the UK has begun inviting comments on Amazon’s proposed acquisition of Roomba-maker iRobot Corporation, citing the merger’s potential “lessening of competition within any market or markets in the United Kingdom for goods or services”. Regulators in the EU and US are also currently examining the deal. Amazon agreed to acquire iRobot for $1.7bn in August 2022.
Amazon’s AMZN proposed acquisition of Roomba-maker iRobot Corporation IRBT is under regulatory scrutiny in the UK.
The Competition and Markets Authority indicated on Thursday that it has opened an invitation to comment in consideration of the merger’s potential “lessening of competition within any market or markets in the United Kingdom for goods or services,” the regulator said on its website.
“We are excited about the opportunity to bring together our experience and iRobot’s great products to benefit customers who have many options to choose from when they buy a vacuum,” an Amazon spokesperson told Seeking Alpha in an email. “We’re working cooperatively with the relevant regulators in their review of the merger.”
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Amazon AMZN first agreed to acquire iRobot for $61/share in an all-cash transaction valued at about $1.7B in August 2022. The stock has traded well below that price in the months following the announcement as regulators in the EU, US, and now UK probe the transaction.
Legal watchdogs in the UK have urged national authorities to look into the deal since late 2022.
Politico reported last month that Federal Trade Commission’s staff attorneys are leaning toward filing a lawsuit to block the deal. A lawsuit to block the purchase of the Roomba maker could come in the next few months.
iRobot IRBT received a second request to do a more in-depth review from the FTC in September. In October Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) as well as five other members of Congress urged the FTC to block the transaction. In February the Financial Times reported that Europe’s antitrust regulator is likely to start a formal probe into the iRobot IRBT deal.
Source: SeekingAlpha
