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Key Takeaways
- Shares of iRobot Corp. dropped almost 30% Friday after it was reported that the company’s acquisition by Amazon.com Inc. may be blocked by European Union (EU) antitrust regulators.
- A media report Thursday said European Commission officials had told Amazon the deal wasn’t likely to be allowed for anti-competition reasons.
- A final decision from the European Commission on Amazon’s acquisition of Roomba must be made by Feb. 14.
Shares of iRobot Corp. (IRBT), the company behind the Roomba robotic vacuum, lost almost a third of their value Friday amid reports it and its acquirer Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN) are in the crosshairs of European Union (EU) antitrust regulators.
The Wall Street Journal on Thursday evening reported that European Commission officials had told Amazon representatives the deal was likely to be blocked, according to people familiar with the discussions. The commission has until Feb. 14 to make a final decision.
It’s been a long and winding road for Amazon in its attempts to buy the Roomba maker. The companies first announced the deal in August 2022, when Amazon said it would pay $61 per share, or $1.7 billion.
Regulators in the U.S., U.K., and EU were quick to say they would look into the acquisition. The U.K. Competition and Markets Authority investigated the deal before approving it in June. Shortly after, European regulators opened up a formal investigation into whether the acquisition would allow Amazon to stifle competition in the robot vacuum market.
Then, in late July, Amazon lowered its offer to $51.75 per share, or $1.4 billion, after iRobot took on new debt.
The deal was reportedly on track to get unconditional approval from EU regulators in mid-November, news that sent iRobot’s shares skyrocketing. Those reports were proved inaccurate just days later when regulators sent Amazon an official statement of objections, inviting the company to propose concessions that would ensure it wouldn’t give preferential placement to iRobot products in its marketplace.
The acquisition has since appeared to be in peril. Amazon missed its deadline to offer concessions last week, leading to speculation that the company could abandon the deal altogether.
iRobot shares plummeted early and traded almost 30% down at about $17 at 12:22 p.m. ET Friday. Amazon shares were up slightly at $154 after a brief decline earlier in the day.