The European Commission, the EU’s executive arm and top antitrust watchdog, is poised to block Amazon’s [AMZN:US] proposed USD1.4bn acquisition of robot vacuum maker iRobot [IRBT:US], as reported by Reuters on January 19. According to people familiar with the matter, the e-commerce giant has been informed that the deal was likely to be rejected at a meeting Thursday with commission officials, with the final decision scheduled to be announced by February 14. The regulator’s major concerns are the deal may enable Amazon to thwart iRobot rivals on its online platform, especially in France, Germany, Italy, and Spain. Reportedly, the US antitrust regulator, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), has also been drafting a lawsuit to block the acquisition, raising concerns that the deal would give Amazon too much control over the smart-home device market. Notably, the British antitrust regulator, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), greenlighted Amazon’s acquisition in June 2023.

Amazon has previously defied the European Commission’s warning that the deal could restrict competition in the market of robot vacuum cleaners, declining to offer remedies to address such concerns. Instead, the company is already gearing up for a legal challenge to the commission’s decision. The commission’s decision reflects its intensified scrutiny of large tech companies’ acquisition deals. Last September, the regulator also blocked online travel group Booking Holdings’ [BKNG:US] USD1.7bn bid for Swedish flight service provider Etraveli Group, citing worries that Booking would be able to solidify its dominant position in the European market for hotel online travel agencies.

Sources:

https://www.reuters.com/markets/deals/amazons-irobot-deal-faces-eu-antitrust-veto-sources-say-2024-01-19/

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-01-18/amazon-s-irobot-deal-to-be-blocked-by-eu-antitrust-watchdog-wsj

https://apnews.com/article/amazon-irobot-acquisition-european-commission-antitrust-bffd331391cbd766296b3b5ebd573c78

https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_23_4573