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EU action scuppers Amazon’s iRobot buy

Amazon has abandoned plans to acquire iRobot, which makes robot vacuum cleaners, after regulators raised competition concerns.

The European Commission had raised objections to the deal late last year after an in-depth investigation.

Margrethe Vestager (commissioner in charge of competition policy) said that the commission had looked closely at the implications of Amazon merging with the owner of a successful product for which it was already an important sales channel.

‘Disappointed’

“Our in-depth investigation preliminarily showed that the acquisition of iRobot would have enabled Amazon to foreclose iRobot's rivals by restricting or degrading access to the Amazon Stores,” she stated.

Amazon said, however, that it was “disappointed” that the acquisition could not go ahead, saying that it would deny consumers “more competitive prices”.

“Undue and disproportionate regulatory hurdles discourage entrepreneurs, who should be able to see acquisition as one path to success, and that hurts both consumers and competition – the very things that regulators say they’re trying to protect,” said David Zapolsy (Amazon general counsel).