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A prototype Roomba vacuum-powered robot is on display at iRobot’s headquarters in Bedford, Mass.
Scott Eiles | bloomberg | Getty Images
European Commission Thursday said He opened a thorough and “in-depth” investigation into it AmazonThe planned $1.7 billion acquisition of the Roomba maker iRobot.
The EU’s executive arm said it was concerned the deal could restrict market competition for robotic vacuum cleaners, and would strengthen Amazon’s position as an online market provider.
The commission, like its US antitrust counterpart, has the power to block the proposed takeover. iRobot stock changed little on the news.
Among the committee’s concerns is that Amazon will be able to engineer search results in iRobot’s favor, leaving competitors like Shark and Dyson at a disadvantage in marketing to Amazon’s millions of users.
Concerns have also been raised about Amazon’s use of iRobot user data, which the commission said could provide the company with a “significant advantage” over competitors and “raise barriers to entry and expansion” for existing or future competitors.
“The Commission will now conduct an in-depth investigation into the implications of the proposed transaction to determine whether its initial competition concerns have been confirmed,” the statement said.
Amazon announced the iRobot deal last year as part of an effort to expand its presence in the smart home. The Competition and Markets Authority, Britain’s antitrust watchdog, sealed the deal in June. It is still under review by the US Federal Trade Commission, which has requested information from iRobot several times regarding the deal, according to regulatory filings.
Federal Trade Commission Chair Lena Khan formulated A widely cited paper on Amazon’s potentially anti-competitive conduct while at Yale Law School, Amazon has sought to distance Khan from any FTC investigations into the e-commerce company.
“We continue to work through the process with the European Commission and are focused on addressing its questions and any specific concerns at this point,” an Amazon spokesperson told CNBC in a statement.
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