Amazon’s $1.7bn bid for iRobot faces questions from UK’s competition agency
The UK’s competition regulator has launched an investigation into Amazon’s proposed $1.7bn acquisition of the Roomba manufacturer, iRobot.
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) announced today that it will investigate whether the merger will result in “substantial lessening of competition” in the UK market.
Amazon and iRobot announced the merger back in August 2022. The acquisition is also being probed by the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC). A number of democratic lawmakers have called on the FTC to oppose the merger, including senator Elizabeth Warren, who said that Amazon should not be able to “buy their way out of competing.”
The CMA did not say when it hoped to conclude its review.
iRobot said it is “excited” about the planned merger and would work with the FTC and other regulatory bodies in their investigation, but added that it could not discuss specific details.
The investigation into the deal comes one day after Ofcom said it would consider referring Amazon to the competition agency over concerns about the tech giant’s share of the UK cloud market.
Amazon was also approached for comment.