Amazon’s $1.7B iRobot purchase faces UK antitrust scrutiny

British antitrust regulators have began investigating Amazon’s buy of robotic vacuum maker iRobot, including additional scrutiny to the $1.7 billion deal.

The Competition and Markets Authority stated Thursday that it is contemplating whether or not the deal will lead to a “substantial lessening of competition” throughout the United Kingdom. In an preliminary step, the U.Okay. watchdog invited feedback on the deal from “any interested party.”

The acquisition is already going through a assessment within the U.S. by the Federal Trade Commission amid worries about Amazon’s rising market energy. Consumer teams had voiced issues after the deal was introduced final 12 months that it will additional the e-commerce large’s dominance within the good house market.

Bedford, Massachusetts-based iRobot, which makes the favored Roomba robotic vacuum cleaners, stated it “continues to work cooperatively with both the U.S. FTC and other regulatory agencies in their review of the Amazon-iRobot merger.”