Last year, it was announced that Amazon was looking to acquire the robot vacuum maker iRobot for $1.7 billion USD (roughly $2.2 billion CAD at the time).
The bid has been waiting for a thumbs-up from European Union regulators, the deadline for which has now been extended to Valentine’s Day, 2024. The previous deadline was December 13th, 2023.
According to Reuters, the EU Commission paused its investigation into the deal in October, waiting for more information from Amazon and iRobot. Amazon has also reportedly lowered its offer for iRobot amid regulatory delays and iRobot incurring debt.
If the acquisition goes through, it’s sure to bolster Amazon’s smart home offerings, considering iRobot has long dominated the robo-vacuum market. That is also the reason why regulators and competitors fear that the deal would create an unfair advantage for Amazon and iRobot over other robo-vacuum makers.
In addition, about 24 human rights groups wrote a letter to the FTC, asking it to block the deal because it would harm the consumer technology market and violate user privacy. They argued that Amazon’s acquisition of a “competing smart home device business” is anti-competitive and would allow Amazon to collect more personal data from its customers.
Amazon, on the other hand, says that it is “working cooperatively with the relevant regulators in their review of the merger,” and it told Gizmodo that it has no plans to use iRobot’s technology in its factories.
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