Why did iRobot stock open 30% up on Friday?

iRobot Corporation (NASDAQ: IRBT) opened about 30% up today after a report that its $1.4 billion deal with Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ: AMZN) is close to winning a key antitrust approval.

iRobot stock soars on the looming EU approval

Anonymous sources told Reuters on Thursday that Amazon could soon receive unconditional nod from the European Union to move ahead with its acquisition of the robot vacuum maker.

The European Commission had previously told the tech behemoth that letting it buy iRobot could hurt competition and reinforce its dominance in eCommerce.

The competition watchdog has until February 14^th to decide on the Amazon-iRobot agreement. Neither it nor Amazon has commented on the Reuters report so far.

$AMZN, however, is slightly in the red at writing.

Watch here: https://www.youtube.com/embed/VECc-tHq_rc?feature=oembed

U.K. has already approved Amazon-iRobot deal

If Amazon is allowed to complete the said acquisition, it will add Roomba to a series of smart devices it owns, including wall-mounted smart display, smart thermostats and security devices, and Alex voice assistant.

Note that United Kingdom had already cleared its $1.4 billion purchase of iRobot Corporation following a preliminary review this year in June.

Amazon had first agreed to pay $1.7 billion to buy the tech company but then lowered its offer price in July to $1.4 billion to reflect the fresh debt the acquiree incurred on its balance sheet.

Earlier this week, Alex Kantrowitz of Big Technology said the recent OpenAI episode could benefit Amazon stock (find out more).

What happens next, with @levie:

Apple: https://t.co/XJpzui7tkH
Spotify: https://t.co/iHv9AfJvxt

— Alex Kantrowitz (@Kantrowitz) November 22, 2023

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