Investing.com — Shares in iRobot (NASDAQ:) surged in premarket U.S. trading on Friday after a news report said Amazon (NASDAQ:) was set to gain the green light from the European Union to acquire the automated vacuum maker.
Citing three people familiar with the matter, Reuters reported that the e-commerce giant’s $1.4 billion purchase of iRobot will win unconditional approval EU antitrust authorities. The acquisition will see Amazon fold iRobot’s Roomba vacuum cleaner into a slate of smart home devices that includes items like thermostats and the Alexa voice assistant.
In July, Amazon slashed the price it would pay by around 15% after iRobot incurred fresh debt.
The European Commission, the EU’s main competition watchdog, is due to decide on the deal by Feb. 14. It declined to comment to Reuters.
Brussels flagged some worries around the buyout earlier this year, arguing that it may lessen competition in the market for smart vacuum cleaners and bolster Amazon’s dominance as an online marketplace provider.
The stance echoed recent skepticism from other competition enforcers concerned that more tie-ups between Big Tech firms and smaller players could place vast customer data troves in the hands of a small collection of companies.
