Amazon scraps $1.7 billion deal to buy Roomba maker iRobot after EU antitrust resistance

The companies said in joint statement that they “entered into a mutual agreement to terminate their announced acquisition agreement” and expressed disappointment.

Amazon announced in 2022 that it would buy iRobot, maker of the circular-shaped Roomba vacuum, for $1.7 billion in cash. But the value of the deal fell 15% after iRobot incurred new debt.

Amazon will pay the Bedford, Massachusetts-based company a previously agreed termination fee, which wasn’t disclosed in the statement Monday. The same day, iRobot announced that it would now lay off about 31% of its staff and its CEO would depart.

The European Commission, the European Union’s executive arm and top antitrust enforcer, had informed Amazon last year of its “preliminary view” that the acquisition of the robot vacuum maker would be anticompetitive.

While British antitrust regulators cleared the purchase in June, it still faced scrutiny in the U.S. by the Federal Trade Commission.

The European Commission did not respond immediately to a request for comment. It had been concerned that Amazon could reduce the visibility of a competitor’s product or limit access to certain labels, such as “Amazon’s choice,” that may attract more shoppers.

The commission said last year that Amazon also might have found ways to raise the costs of iRobot’s rivals to advertise and sell their products on its platform.

David Zapolsky, Amazon’s general counsel, lashed out at regulators and said consumers would lose out on “faster innovation and more competitive prices.”

“Mergers and acquisitions like this help companies like iRobot better compete in the global marketplace, particularly against companies, and from countries, that aren’t…