US FTC was poised to reject Amazon acquisition of iRobot

The Federal Trade Commission was poised to reject Amazon.com's $1.4 billion acquisition of robot vacuum maker iRobot before the companies announced early Monday they were abandoning the deal in the face of EU antitrust opposition, a source said.

The FTC staff had met with Amazon last week to inform them they planned to recommend the commission vote to sue to block the acquisition, the source added, saying the commission was set to hold a final meeting on Monday with Amazon before the commission could have voted to approve a legal challenge to the merger.