Financial Times: EU to investigate Amazon’s takeover of Roomba maker iRobot

The European Union will launch a competition investigation into Amazon’s acquisition of Roomba vacuum cleaner maker iRobot. This is what insiders say to the Financial Times. Amazon told Reuters it is currently “in discussions with relevant regulators.”

EU regulators are said to have recently sent Amazon a list of ‘detailed questions’ about the proposed acquisition, two sources told the Financial Times. Europe appears to be preparing for a formal investigation into the deal. Researchers at the European Commission are said to have privacy concerns about the takeover.

The FT writes, citing sources, that the region plans to launch an antitrust case against Amazon soon, although the start of such a formal investigation could take weeks. This concerns an introductory ‘phase 1’ investigation, in which the EU considers possible concerns surrounding company takeovers. If those concerns cannot be addressed by involved parties during that initial investigation, the EU usually follows up such an investigation with a more extensive Phase 2 investigation.

Regulators would like to conduct an investigation into the operation of the Roomba, among other things, writes the FT. This would specifically look at the vacuum cleaners’ ability to take photos as they move through a home. The EU is said to be looking at how the tech giant could use the acquisition to combine Roomba data with voice assistant Alexa to gain a competitive advantage.

Amazon and the EU did not respond to the Financial Times’ request for comment. Amazon says to Reuters that it is currently “in discussions with regulators” while the takeover is investigated. The American FTC previously started an investigation into the takeover and reportedly recently asked the company for more information.

Amazon announced in August that it wanted to acquire iRobot. The company wants to pay $1.7 billion for the robot vacuum cleaner manufacturer.