iRobot was falling sharply Thursday after a report said Amazon.com‘s deal to buy the smart vacuum company faces a full-scale EU antitrust investigation.
Reuters, citing people familiar with the matter, reported that the European Commission was scheduled to launch a four-month investigation into the $1.7 billion acquisition of iRobot (ticker: IRBT) by Amazon (AMZN).
The...
Amazon reached a deal to acquire iRobot for $1.7 billion.
Courtesy of iRobot
iRobot was falling sharply Thursday after a report said Amazon.com ‘s deal to buy the smart vacuum company faces a full-scale EU antitrust investigation.
Reuters, citing people familiar with the matter, reported that the European Commission was scheduled to launch a four-month investigation into the $1.7 billion acquisition of iRobot (ticker: IRBT) by Amazon (AMZN).
The European Commission made it public in early June that it had opened a phase one review of the merger. The commission told Barron’s Thursday that it had no specific comment to provide, but said the provisional deadline for it to reach a decision on the case was July 6.
An Amazon spokesperson told Barron’s that the company was “working cooperatively with the relevant regulators in their review of the merger.”
iRobot hasn’t responded to a request for comment.
The deal for the e-commerce giant to buy iRobot was announced in August 2022. If the deal goes through, it would extend Amazon’s line up of smart products, which include the Alexa virtual assistant, Ring doorbells and smart thermostats.
Things were looking up for the deal last week after the British competition regulator said it had cleared the acquisition after finding it would “not lead to competition concerns in the U.K” or put rivals at a disadvantage. Investors were thrilled by the news, and iRobot closed up 21% that day.
But on Thursday shares of iRobot were falling 8.5% to $45.32 and were on pace for their largest percentage decrease since February 2022, according to Dow Jones Market Data. The stock has fallen about 6% this year.
Write to Angela Palumbo at angela.palumbo@dowjones.com