UK regulator clears Amazon's (AMZN) $1.7bn iRobot acquisition

On Friday, the U.K. Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) announced that Amazon's (NASDAQ: AMZN) plan to acquire iRobot Corp for $1.7 billion has been approved.

In April, the regulator began an investigation into the takeover of Roomba maker. After their investigation, they found that the deal would not pose any competition concerns in the United Kingdom.

However, the deal is still being reviewed by regulators in other areas. iRobot revealed in September that the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) asked for documents from both companies to clarify the purpose and reasoning behind the deal. An iRobot securities filing stated that the companies would cooperate with the FTC investigation, which normally takes up to a year.

Once the FTC conducts an investigation, they have the option to file a lawsuit in order to prevent a merger. Alternatively, they may request certain concessions, such as divestitures, or choose not to take any action, thereby allowing the deal to proceed as planned.

By Sam Boughedda

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