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Comment by xnx | Hacker News Reader

Roomba screwed up for sure, but they found a way out with Amazon until US consumer "protection" shut it down.

"The FTC didn’t bring a challenge, but nevertheless, in 2024, Amazon and iRobot called off the deal."

How did they shut it down?

"On Monday, the FTC requested more information from both companies about the $1.7 billion deal, according to an investor filing from iRobot, in what’s known as a “second request” and an indicator of deeper scrutiny by antitrust officials."

https://www.cnn.com/2022/09/20/tech/roomba-amazon-ftc-invest...

IRobot says it was the EU which killed the deal: https://media.irobot.com/2024-01-29-Amazon-and-iRobot-agree-...

The article claims EU didn't challenge the deal, only requested information about the market and possible unfair practices.

https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_23_...

Preparing all the requested information can be expensive. It is likely enough to kill many deals.

So then back to the original aricles implied take about the incompetence of these wall street investors. What kind of billion dollar deal doesn't have info on the deal?

i don't know what information is ask for, or what format is needed but I would assume it all needs to be rewritten - likely censoring information not asked for they want to not share.

Last time France allowed a huge merger/acquisition without asking to read the books, it was Alstom/GE, and GE books were so cooked it isn't even funny. Lot of people lost their jobs, a lot of the tech edge got lost, and now China is close to be a market leader.

So personally I think that finance guys should move their head from their asses and allow for inquiries, because their lies and deceit are damaging the society they live in. Maybe we should hold board members and C-suite all responsible when books are cooked, and maybe, when they're proven trustworthy, the red tape might decrease.

The article subheading:

> Amazon's proposed acquisition of iRobot has no path to regulatory approval in the European Union ...

In other words, they didn’t shut it down.

There are later press communications where Khan's FTC took credit for it. There was a strong implication they let the EU do the lifting but would have filed suit if they hadn't.

Indeed. Statement here: https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2024/01/...

A routine request for information is not shutting down a merger and presenting it as such is not good faith communication.

So, that is common and doesn't mean they are going to shut down a deal. E.g., also in 2022 they made a "second request" for the Broadcom acquisition of VMWare and that one went through.

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