Competition watchdog clears Amazon’s $1.7bn takeover of Roomba maker

Amazon’s $1.7billion (£1.3billion) acquisition of the company behind the Roomba robot vacuum cleaner has been given the green light by Britain’s competition watchdog.

The Competition and Markets Authority, which is separately investigating the online retail behemoth’s UK marketplace, said Amazon’s takeover of iRobot could go ahead following a two-and-a-half month investigation.

The regulator determined that the deal ‘would not lead to competition concerns in the UK’ as Amazon moves to bolster its position in the ‘smart devices’ market.

CMA: ‘More people are choosing to use ‘smart’ tech in their homes’

Amazon revealed the $61 per share, all-cash deal in August 2022, with the tech giant’s senior vice president of devices Dave Limp at the time praising iRobot’s ‘ability to reinvent how people clean with products that are incredibly practical and inventive’.

iRobot emerged in 2002 with the introduction of Roomba, which has now sold millions of units worldwide.

The firm describes itself as ‘a global consumer robot company that designs and builds thoughtful robots and intelligent home innovations that make life better’.

The CMA had been concerned the takeover could unfairly disadvantage iRobot’s rivals, among other issues.

But the watchdog’s investigation, which was launched in April, found iRobot’s UK market position to be ‘modest’ with ‘several significant rivals’ and the takeover therefore ‘wouldn’t have a substantial impact on market outcomes’.

The CMA also said that while Amazon could use its size to disadvantage these rivals, ‘it would lack the incentive to do so’ as the benefits of doing so would be ‘limited’.

Colin Raftery, senior director of mergers at the CMA, said: ‘More people are choosing to use ‘smart’ tech 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 vacuum cleaners.

‘That’s why it’s important to ensure tech firms that already benefit from powerful positions aren’t able to use those positions to undermine competitors at the expense of UK consumers and businesses.

‘Here, after a thorough investigation, we’re satisfied that the deal would have no impact on competition in the UK.’

Amazon still needs to get the green light from other anti-trust regulators around the world.

A spokesperson said: ‘We look forward to similar decisions from other regulators soon.’