Elizabeth Warren Asks Federal Trade Commission to Nix Amazon-Roomba Deal
Sen. Elizabeth Warren and five members of the House of Representatives asked the Federal Trade Commission in a letter Thursday to oppose Amazon’s proposed acquisition of iRobot, the manufacturer of the robot vacuum Roomba, Axios reported Thursday.
“Given our concerns with Amazon’s anticompetitive policies that put consumers and their privacy at risk, we urge the FTC to oppose the proposed Amazon-iRobot acquisition,” the lawmakers wrote. In a statement, an Amazon spokesperson pushed back on the claims in the letter. “The letter contains a number of falsehoods and is broadly inaccurate,” the spokesperson said. “We will continue to cooperate with regulators, and we are confident that this deal is pro-competitive and will make customers lives better and easier.”
Amazon announced its plans to acquire iRobot for £1.7 billion in August.
The lawmakers’ letter comes a little over a week after the FTC made a second request for information from both Amazon and iRobot as part of its review of the deal.
The request extends the review process and indicates a higher level of scrutiny.