Amazon.com Inc.’s proposed $1.7 billion deal to buy robot vacuum firm iRobot Corp. was given the all-clear by the UK’s antitrust agency.
The Competition and Markets Authority said the deal would not lead to competition concerns in the UK market after an initial review, according to a statement Friday.
Shares of Amazon were little changed in pre-market trading as the deal still faces an in-depth review by the Federal Trade Commission in the US and a review by the European Commission in Brussels. The EU will decide on whether to start a phase 2 probe by July 6.
Read More: Amazon Faces EU Review for $1.65 Billion iRobot Purchase
The iRobot deal, announced in August, has raised competition and privacy worries from tech advocacy groups as the e-commerce giant seeks more internet-connected devices in people’s homes.
The agency said that iRobot’s position in supplying robot vacuum cleaners in the UK is modest and already has significant rivals. It also found it would not disadvantage Amazon’s rival smart home platforms and the firm would have no incentive to undermine its rivals on its retail platforms.
“It’s important to ensure tech firms that already benefit from powerful positions aren’t able to use those positions to undermine competitors at the expense of UK consumers and businesses,” said Colin Raftery, senior director of mergers at the CMA. “After a thorough investigation, we’re satisfied that the deal would have no impact on competition in the UK.”
The approval will be a relief to the tech giant given how the CMA has taken a more aggressive line with Big Tech mergers of late. It decided to to block Microsoft’s $69 billion Activision Blizzard Inc. deal in April and put a stop to Meta Platforms Inc.’s purchase of Giphy last year.
“We’re pleased with the UK Competition and Markets Authority’s decision and are committed to supporting regulatory bodies in their work,” Amazon said in a statement. “We look forward to similar decisions from other regulators soon.”
In pre-market trading, its shares fell 0.3% to $126.77.
Seattle-based Amazon is also facing separate scrutiny from UK regulators including a cloud probe into the AWS business spearheaded by UK telecoms regulator Ofcom. and another CMA investigation into Amazon Marketplace.
“The CMA’s decision to clear Amazon’s takeover of iRobot, without even conducting an in-depth investigation, is a mistake,” said Max Von Thun, a Brussels-based director at the Open Markets Institute which often takes a stance against big tech mergers. “Far more serious concerns are raised by the sensitive data Amazon would acquire with this takeover, which inexplicably do not appear to have featured in the CMA’s review.”
--With assistance from Samuel Stolton.
(Updates with a comment from the Open Markets Institute in the final paragraph)
