On the evening of Thursday 6 July, the European Commission announced that it had opened an in-depth investigation into the proposed acquisition of shares in iRobot Corporation (USA), a supplier of hoovers, by Amazon.com, Inc. (USA), an online marketplace that also operates as a retailer on its platform.
Following the Commission’s preliminary investigation, carried out in cooperation with other competition authorities, the Commission considers that the transaction, as notified on 1 June 2023, could affect competition on several markets.
The Commission is concerned that the merger would enable Amazon to restrict competition in the market for the manufacture and supply of robot hoovers and to strengthen its position in the market for online marketplace services offered to third party sellers and in the market for related advertising services.
The Commission is also concerned that Amazon is strengthening its position in other data-related markets.
Link to the case in the Commission’s register: https://aeur.eu/f/7yy (Original version in French by Émilie Vanderhulst)