UK regulator approves Amazon’s $1.7 billion purchase of iRobot
The planned $1.7 billion purchase of iRobot by Amazon has been approved by the UK’s antitrust authority. iRobot creates consumer robots, including robot vacuum cleaners marketed under the ‘Roomba’ brand.
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) determined that iRobot already has a number of sizable competitors and that its market position in the UK for the sale of robot hoover cleaners is small.
According to a statement from the CMA, “on this basis, the CMA considered that the loss of potential competition from Amazon wouldn’t have a substantial impact on market outcomes.”
The purchase of iRobot would not hurt Amazon’s competing “smart home” systems.
Robot vacuum cleaners (and the data they collect) are often not seen as an essential input to the developing “smart home” sector in the UK, according to the CMA.
The CMA also discovered that there are a number of competing “smart home” products that potentially include robot vacuum cleaners with features comparable to those of iRobot.
According to Colin Raftery, Senior Director of Mergers at the CMA, “more people are choosing to use’smart’ technology in their homes, whether that’s listening to the radio through a smart speaker, answering the door using a video doorbell or keeping floors clean with robot hoover cleaners.”
“Here, after a thorough investigation, we’re satisfied that the deal would have no impact on competition in the UK,” the CMA said.
