iRobot ticks lower amid report FTC staff leaning toward suing to block Amazon deal
Justin Sullivan

iRobot (NASDAQ:IRBT) ticked down 2.1% on a report that the Federal Trade Commission's staff attorneys are leaning toward filing a lawsuit to block Amazon's (NASDAQ:AMZN) $1.7 billion planned purchase.
A lawsuit to block the purchase the of the Roomba maker could come in the next few months, according to a Politico report, which cited three people familiar.
"We're working cooperatively with the relevant regulators in their review of the merger," an Amazon spokesperson told Seeking Alpha in an email
responding to the Politico report.
The Politico story comes as investors have been concerned about antitrust issues with Amazon (AMZN) purchase, especially in the U.S. Amazon and iRobot (IRBT) received a second request to do a more in-depth review from the FRC in September. In October Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) as well as five other members of Congress urged the FTC to block the transaction.
"We have no plans to operate iRobot differently than how they operate today in regards to interoperability," Amazon told Seeking Alpha in an email. "iRobot offers products that are compatible with other voice assistants. We believe partners and customers should have more choices and pick the solutions that work best for them, and we have no plans to discontinue these partnerships."
Last month the Financial Times reported that Europe's antitrust regulator is likely to start a formal probe into the iRobot (IRBT). Amazon (AMZN) is likely to argue to EU regulators that the Roomba has restrictions built into it and that it only has basic sensor mapping, which may violate privacy concerns.
"We have no plans to operate iRobot differently than how they operate today in regards to assortment," Amazon said in the email to Seeking Alpha. "We will continue to supply other retailers and vendors with iRobot products, and continue to sell other products on Amazon.com."
Several media outlets reported last month that FTC is preparing a potential antitrust lawsuit against Amazon (AMZN) due to alleged anticompetitive business practices and Bloomberg reported the suit could include the iRobot (IRBT) deal.