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The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has confirmed it is reviewing Amazon’s proposed takeover of robot vacuum manufacturer iRobot.
The case is still at the earliest possible stage, with the CMA essentially seeking comments from relevant stakeholders to determine whether there may be a “substantial reduction in competition” in the UK as a result of the purchase from iRobot by Amazon.
The CMA has not given any specific timeframes or deadlines for when it will announce whether it will proceed with an official investigation.
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Founded some 30 years ago out of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), iRobot is probably best known for its Roomba-branded autonomous vacuums, though it also offers tangential products that can mop floors.
With Amazon’s gradual entry into the smart home, as well as its own home robotics efforts, including integrations with Roombas, it wasn’t necessarily a big surprise that iRobot would be a tempting proposition for $1.7 billion Amazon. tabled for publicly traded iRobot in August. But against a backdrop of growing regulatory scrutiny over Big Tech, it came as no surprise that the megabucks iRobot deal would eventually catch the attention of authorities around the world.
On the other side of the water in mainland Europe, EU regulators are reportedly preparing to investigate Amazon’s acquisition of iRobot for privacy reasons, amid concerns about how Amazon could combine data from the two companies to create a achieve competitive advantage. In its home market, Amazon, meanwhile, is already in the crosshairs of regulators as part of a multifaceted investigation into acquisitions, competition, privacy and more. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is currently considering an official investigation into the iRobot deal, though the FTC in particular recently gave the green light to Amazon’s $3.9 billion acquisition of One Medical.
As for the UK, it currently has a number of antitrust deals to contend with. Yesterday, regulator Ofcom revealed it was preparing to refer the local cloud infrastructure market for an in-depth investigation, with a specific focus on Amazon’s AWS and Microsoft. Microsoft’s $68.7 billion bid for Activision is also in the CMA’s purview, as is Broadcom’s planned $61 billion acquisition of VMware. And some 18 months ago, the CMA ordered Facebook parent Meta to sell Giphy, which it bought for $400 million last year.
So while today’s news doesn’t necessarily mean Amazon’s iRobot deal is in jeopardy, it’s clear the UK is hungry to question Big Tech’s M&A efforts. And as regulators in the EU and US are also eyeing a possible in-depth investigation, it wouldn’t be too surprising if the UK decides to launch an official investigation.
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