In August 2022, Amazon and iRobot signed an agreement for Amazon to acquire iRobot for $1.7 billion. Usually, government agencies in certain regions investigate such acquisitions and mergers before giving the go-ahead to make sure that it doesn’t affect consumers and the market in a negative way. As such, a month after the two companies signed an agreement, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) started an investigation into the deal. In July this year, the European Commission (EC) also opened an investigation into the matter, and now, the agency has come up with a statement that doesn’t look good for Amazon and iRobot.
According to the EC, the acquisition of iRobot by Amazon “may restrict competition in the market for robot vacuum cleaners (‘RVCs’).” In the press release, the agency says “Amazon may have the ability and the incentive to foreclose iRobot's rivals by engaging in several foreclosing strategies aimed at preventing rivals from selling RVCs on Amazon's online marketplace and/or at degrading their access to it.” The EC has listed a number of reasons why this deal could be bad for consumers and the market.
It is up to Amazon and iRobot now convince the EC that it won’t impact consumers, competitors, and the market in a negative way for the agency to show the green flag to the deal. The EC has also revealed that it will take a final decision on the matter on February 14, 2024. Some people might be holding off their purchase of iRobot vacuum cleaners until the agency takes a decision to see how it affects the company’s products in the future. If you are one of them, you don’t have to wait for too long to make a decision.
