FTC Scrutinizes Amazon's Planned Acquisitions of One Medical, iRobot

pcmag.com:

The Federal Trade Commission is reportedly investigating Amazon's plans to acquire One Medical and iRobot due to ongoing concerns about the company's continued expansion.

Amazon said in July that it had agreed to acquire One Medical for $3.9 billion; it announced the $1.7 billion acquisition of Roomba maker iRobot in August. Both deals are subject to regulatory approval, however, so these investigations by the FTC could draw out the closing process.

One Medical parent company 1Life Healthcare said in a regulatory filing(Opens in a new window) that "One Medical and Amazon each received a request for additional information and documentary materials [...] from the FTC in connection with the FTC’s review of the Merger" on Sept. 2.

Politico reported(Opens in a new window) that the commission had "officially begun areview of Amazon’s $1.7 billion takeover of robot vacuum maker iRobot to decide if the deal violates antitrust law" that same day. The companies are reportedly "bracing for a potentially lengthy, arduous investigation."

Amazon didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

One Medical and iRobot are quite different. The former operates primary care providers across the US; the latter makes robot vacuums. But at least one concern—that Amazon's acquisition of the companies would provide it with even more private data—is consistent.

Politico reported that the FTC is also looking to learn if the iRobot deal "will illegally boost Amazon’s market share in both the connected device market and the retail market generally" and "investigating how the purchase would add to Amazon’s increasing smart device lineup."

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