U.K. regulator clears Amazon’s $1.7 billion acquisition of iRobot

Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ: AMZN) secured approval from the British regulator to buy iRobot Corporation (NASDAQ: IRBT) for $1.7 billion on Friday. Shares of the smart vacuum cleaners company ended more than 20% up.

Amazon-iRobot deal won’t hurt competition

The said acquisition that translates to about $61 a share was announced last year in August.

On Friday, following an investigation that spanned over two months, the Competition and Markets Authority concluded that the takeover will not hurt competition in the United Kingdom.

The regular also agreed that smart vacuum cleaners is a market of limited strategic significance in the region. According to an Amazon spokesperson:

We’re pleased with the U.K. CMA’s decision and are committed to supporting regulatory bodies in their work. We look forward to similar decisions from other regulators soon.

Investigation is still ongoing in the U.S.

The British regulator also agreed that smart vacuum cleaners is a market of limited strategic significance in the region. Amazon shares still ended slightly down on Friday.

In the United States, though, the Federal Trade Commission is still evaluating the $1.7 billion deal. The investigation usually takes up to a year. Earlier this year, the U.S. FTC cleared Amazon’s $3.9 billion purchase of One Medical.  

The stock market news arrived about a month after iRobot reported a 45% decline in its quarterly revenue as consumers turned more cautious on discretionary spending in the face of high inflation.

“IRBT” is now up nearly 60% versus its low in May.  

The post U.K. regulator clears Amazon’s $1.7 billion acquisition of iRobot appeared first on Invezz.