By Ben Glickman

The European Commission said that Amazon's proposed deal to buy iRobot may limit competition in the robot vacuum cleaner market.

Regulators said Monday that they had informed Amazon of the commission's preliminary view following an investigation of the proposed acquisition.

The EC said that the deal may restrict competition in the making of robot vacuum cleaners and could allow Amazon to fortify its position as an online marketplace services provider.

The commission said Amazon may have the "ability and the incentive" to foreclose iRobot's rivals by preventing them from selling on Amazon's platform.

The acquisition by Amazon, announced in August 2022, was cleared by U.K. regulators in June, but faces an ongoing investigation by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission.

The EC has until Feb. 14 to make a final decision on the deal.

Write to Ben Glickman at ben.glickman@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

November 27, 2023 13:28 ET (18:28 GMT)

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