BELOW SUPERNAV drop zone ⇩

Amazon’s $1.7 billion deal to buy Roomba maker iRobot gets UK approval

FILE - An Amazon company logo is seen on the facade of a company's building in Schoenefeld near Berlin, Germany, on March 18, 2022. British antitrust regulators have cleared Amazon’s purchase of robot vacuum maker iRobot. They gave the green light to the $1.7 billion deal on Friday, June 16, 2023, even as it still faces scrutiny in the United States and Europe. (AP Photo/Michael Sohn, File)

FILE – An Amazon company logo is seen on the facade of a company’s building in Schoenefeld near Berlin, Germany, on March 18, 2022. (AP Photo/Michael Sohn, File)

MAIN AREA TOP drop zone ⇩

AUTO TEST CUSTOM HTML 20241114185800

AUTO TEST CUSTOM HTML 20241115200405

AUTO TEST CUSTOM HTML 20241118165728

AUTO TEST CUSTOM HTML 20241118184948

This is an archived article and the information in the article may be outdated. Please look at the time stamp on the story to see when it was last updated.

LONDON (AP) — British antitrust regulators cleared Amazon’s purchase of robot vacuum maker iRobot on Friday, but the $1.7 billion deal still faces scrutiny in the United States and Europe.

The Competition and Markets Authority said it decided not to escalate its initial investigation because it concluded that the deal would not result in a “substantial lessening of competition” within the United Kingdom.

Amazon said it was pleased with the result.

“We look forward to similar decisions from other regulators soon,” the company said in a statement.

Consumer groups have voiced concerns that Amazon’s purchase of Bedford, Massachusetts-based iRobot, which makes the popular Roomba robotic vacuum cleaners, would widen the e-commerce giant’s dominance in the smart home market.

The acquisition is still facing a review in the U.S. by the Federal Trade Commission amid worries about Amazon’s growing market power. It’s also under scrutiny by the European Union’s executive arm, which opened a review of the deal this month.

The U.K. watchdog said in its decision that robot vacuum cleaners and the data they collect aren’t generally considered an important gateway to the emerging market for smart home devices.

It said iRobot has a modest U.K. market position, already faces “several significant rivals” and Amazon would have little incentive to give its products special treatment over rivals in its online store.

Tech Headlines

Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed AP

Site Settings Survey

 

MAIN AREA MIDDLE drop zone ⇩

Trending on NewsNation

AUTO TEST CUSTOM HTML 20241119133138