Amazon Fails to Offer EU Remedies in $1.4 Billion iRobot Deal

Samuel Stolton, Bloomberg News

The iRobot headquarters in Bedford, Massachusetts, US, on Friday, June 16, 2023. Amazon.com Inc.'s proposed $1.7 billion deal to buy robot vacuum firm iRobot Corp. was given the all-clear by the UKs antitrust agency. Photographer: Sophie Park/Bloomberg , Bloomberg

(Bloomberg) -- Amazon.com Inc.’s $1.4 billion deal to buy Roomba-maker iRobot Corp. has been cast into doubt after the firm opted not to offer concessions to the European Union.

According to a European Commission site on Thursday Amazon missed the Wednesday deadline to file remedies that might allay any issues antitrust enforcers have.

In December, the EU’s stand-in competition chief Didier Reynders called for Amazon to ensure that it ranks rival robot vacuums fairly when compared to the iRobot brand, after a prospective closing of the deal.

The deal spread widened to $22 on Wednesday after Politico reported that Amazon wouldn’t offer remedies to allay the EU’s concerns.

The commission currently has a deadline of Feb. 14 to decide whether to approve the iRobot deal, or to block it. The UK cleared the deal in June