EU regulators open antitrust probe into Amazon's $1.7 billion iRobot deal

The European Commission said Thursday that it's opened a broad and "in-depth" probe into Amazon's planned $1.7 cardinal acquisition of Roomba shaper iRobot.

The enforcement limb of the EU said it was acrophobic the transaction mightiness restrict contention successful the marketplace for robot vacuum cleaners, and would further fortify Amazon's presumption arsenic an online marketplace provider.

The Commission, similar its U.S. antitrust counterpart, has the powerfulness to artifact the projected acquisition. Shares of iRobot were small changed connected the news.

Among the Commission's concerns are that Amazon would beryllium capable to technologist hunt results successful favour of iRobot, leaving competitors similar Shark and Dyson astatine a disadvantage successful selling to Amazon's millions of users.

Concerns were besides raised astir Amazon's usage of iRobot idiosyncratic data, which the Commission said mightiness supply the institution "with an important advantage" implicit rivals and "raise barriers to introduction and expansion" for existent oregon aboriginal competitors.

"The Commission volition present transportation retired an in-depth probe into the effects of the projected transaction to find whether its archetypal contention concerns are confirmed," the connection said.

Amazon announced the iRobot woody past twelvemonth arsenic portion of an effort to grow its beingness successful the astute home. The Competition and Markets Authority, Britain's antitrust watchdog, cleared the woody successful June. It's inactive nether reappraisal by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission, which has requested accusation from iRobot aggregate times connected the deal, according to regulatory filings.

FTC seat Lina Khan penned a widely-cited insubstantial connected Amazon's perchance anticompetitive behaviour portion astatine Yale Law School, and Amazon has sought to person Khan recused from immoderate FTC probes into the e-commerce company.

"We proceed to enactment done the process with the European Commission and are focused connected addressing its questions and immoderate identified concerns astatine this stage," an Amazon spokesperson told CNBC successful a statement.

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