‘Amazon receives unconditional permission from the EU to take over Roomba maker’

Amazon may receive permission from the European Union to acquire Roomba maker iRobot. Insiders report this to the Reuters news agency. The EU would not impose any further conditions or requirements on Amazon for that approval.

Three sources tell Reuters that Amazon will receive European approval for its iRobot takeover. The European Commission warned in July that the acquisition could potentially reduce competition in robot vacuum cleaners and strengthen Amazon’s dominant position in online marketplaces. The EU also worried that Amazon could limit Roomba support for smart assistants to its own Alexa.

The EU investigation however, it was shut down in September, after which the EU requested more information from the two companies. Europe would make a decision on the deal by February 14. Spokespeople for the European Commission declined to respond to questions from Reuters. Amazon was not available for comment, the news agency wrote.

Amazon announced in August last year that it wanted to acquire iRobot, the company behind the Roomba vacuum cleaners, for $1.7 billion. Various competition regulators are said to be investigating the takeover. Regulators are, among other things, afraid of the privacy consequences. For example, regulators looked at the ability for Roomba vacuum cleaners to take photos as they move through a home, in addition to potentially restricting competition through the Alexa voice assistant.