\n<\/p>\n
The U.K.\u2019s antitrust regulator has given the go-ahead<\/a> to Amazon\u2019s proposed billion-dollar acquisition of iRobot<\/a>, concluding that the deal \u201cwould not lead to competition concerns in the U.K.\u201d<\/p>\n Amazon first revealed plans to buy robot vacuum maker iRobot for $1.7 billion last August<\/a>, though the megabucks deal was always likely to draw scrutiny from regulators. The European Commission (EC) will decide by July 6<\/a> whether to clear the deal (with or without remedies) or launch a full-scale investigation, while the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in the U.S. is also currently mulling<\/a> an official investigation into the deal. The FTC did recently greenlight <\/a>Amazon\u2019s $3.9 billion One Medical acquisition<\/a>, though it is reportedly pushing to stop<\/a> Microsoft\u2019s planned $68.7 billion Activision acquisition.<\/p>\n In short, it\u2019s difficult to know whether Amazon\u2019s iRobot purchase will survive regulators elsewhere, but today\u2019s news from the U.K. \u2014 which recently blocked<\/a> the Microsoft \/ Activision deal (subject to appeal) \u2014 could be a harbinger of what\u2019s to come elsewhere, given that regulators often co-operate and share notes in such scenarios. But, of course, nothing is certain here.<\/p>\n \u201cThe merging parties will no doubt take comfort from the CMA clearance although they will also know that the different regulatory agencies do not always operate in complete lock-step with one another,\u201d Alex Haffner, competition partner at U.K.-based law firm Fladgate said in a statement issued to TechCrunch.<\/p>\n Founded out of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) some three decades ago, iRobot is best known for its Roomba-branded autonomous vacuum cleaners, though it has expanded into related products including those capable of mopping floors<\/a>. For Amazon, which has been seeking deeper inroads<\/a> into the smart home in addition to its own dabblings in home robotics<\/a>, it wasn\u2019t a major surprise that iRobot would fall on its radar.<\/p>\nModest market share<\/h2>\n