Amazon’s Plan to Acquire iRobot Canceled Due to EU Opposition

Amazon.com and iRobot, the company behind the Roomba robot vacuum cleaner, announced on the 29th that they are canceling Amazon’s plan to acquire iRobot in the face of opposition from European Union regulators. Photograph taken in October 2021 (2024 Reuters/Pascal Rossignol/File Photo)

[ワシントン ２９日 ロイター] – US Amazon.com (AMZN.O), opens a new tab and iRobot (IRBT.O), which develops the robot vacuum cleaner Roomba, opened a new tab on the 29th, In the face of opposition, Amazon announced that it canceled its planned acquisition of iRobot.

iRobot has announced a major restructuring plan to cut costs. The company will cut 350 jobs, or around 31% of its total workforce. The company also announced that Colin Angle has stepped down as CEO.

Amazon has said there is no way it will get approval from EU regulators for its $1.4 billion acquisition of iRobot.

Vestager, the European Commission’s executive vice president for competition policy, said an investigation showed that Amazon’s acquisition of iRobot could potentially drive out competitors. It’s possible that Amazon could stop displaying competitors’ robot vacuum cleaners, or that competitors could raise the cost of advertising and selling their products on Amazon’s site.

Officials from the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) held a meeting with Amazon last week and conveyed their intention to recommend that the FTC suspend the deal, according to people familiar with the matter. The FTC was scheduled to hold a final meeting with Amazon on the 29th, followed by a vote on legal challenges to the acquisition.

iRobot’s stock price fell more than 18% in early trading, hitting a 14-year low. After that, the decline narrowed.

iRobot announces major restructuring plans to cut costs. The company said it will cut 350 people, or about 31% of its workforce.

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