FTC staff told Amazon last week it planned to block iRobot deal – report

Staff of the Federal Trade Commission told Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) last week that it planned to block its $1.4 billion sale of robot vacuum maker iRobot (NASDAQ:IRBT).

The FTC had originally set a meeting for Monday with Amazon (AMZN) before a potential lawsuit to block the iRobot (IRBT) combination, according to a Reuters report on Monday, which cited a source familiar with the matter.

The report comes after Amazon (AMZN) and iRobot (IRBT) on Monday mutually terminated the deal at least partly after reports earlier this month that the European antitrust regulator was poised to block the combination. iRobot fell 8% on the news.

Along with the deal termination, iRobot (IRBT) announced it would be restructuring, including cutting 31% of its workforce and the company’s co-founder, chairman and CEO Colin Angle is stepping down.

Earlier this month Bloomberg reported that the FTC was drafting a lawsuit that would seek to stop the iRobot (IRBT) deal.

The deal was terminated even after Amazon (AMZN) already reduced its price for the iRobot (IRBT) in late July to $51.75 a share from the original deal price of $61.