Europe looks to block Amazon’s iRobot deal
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The European Commission believes Amazon’s acquisition of iRobot may restrict competition in the market for robot vacuum cleaners (RCVs).
The Commission opened an in-depth investigation of Amazon’s acquisition of iRobot in July and is concerned that Amazon may restrict competition in the European Economic Area (EEA) for the robotic cleaners.
In particular 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 robot cleaners on Amazon’s online marketplace and/or at degrading their access to it.
The merged entity would likely gain more from additional sales of iRobot RVCs than it would lose from fewer sales of iRobot’s rivals and other related products on Amazon. Such gains include benefits from additional data gathered from iRobot’s users says the Commission.
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“We continue to work through the process with the European Commission and are focused on addressing its questions and any identified concerns at this stage,” said a spokesperson for Amazon. “iRobot, which faces intense competition from other vacuum cleaner suppliers, offers practical and inventive products. We believe Amazon can offer a company like iRobot the resources to accelerate innovation and invest in critical features while lowering prices for consumers.”
The investigation analysed internal documents provided by Amazon and iRobot the parties and the views of other RVCs and other smart home devices, as well as from providers of online sales channels.
The Commission closely cooperated with other competition authorities during both the initial investigation and the in-depth investigation and will continue such cooperation during the remainder of the in-depth investigation.
The Commission now has until 14 February 2024 to take a final decision on whether to block the deal.
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