BRUSSELS (Reuters) – EU antitrust regulators on Monday warned that Amazon’s $1.4 billion acquisition of robot vacuum maker iRobot may restrict competition in the market for robot vacuum cleaners.
“Amazon may have the ability and the incentive to foreclose iRobot’s rivals by engaging in several foreclosing strategies aimed at preventing rivals from selling RVCs on Amazon’s online marketplace and/or at degrading their access to it,” the European Commission said in a statement.
Amazon can request a closed door hearing to argue its case in a bid to convince regulators to clear the deal without conditions. Reuters reported last week that the deal would win unconditional clearance. The Commission’s deadline for a decision is Feb. 14.
(Reporting by Foo Yun Chee)
