Justin Sullivan
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) as well as five other members of Congress are said to be urging the Federal Trade Commission to block Amazon's (NASDAQ:AMZN) planned acquisition of iRobot (NASDAQ:IRBT), according to an Axios report.
"Given Amazon’s record of infringing on consumers’ privacy, and their ongoing history of anticompetitive mergers to increase their monopoly power, the FTC should use its authority to oppose the Amazon – iRobot transaction.," Warren wrote in a letter obtained by Axios, along with representatives Mondaire Jones (D-N.Y.), Mark Pocan (D-Wis.), Jesus G. Garcia (D-Ill.), Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) and Katie Porter (D-Calif.).
The Warren push comes after the companies disclosed last Monday that the iRobot/Amazon deal received a second request from the FTC.
Amazon (AMZN) agreed to acquire consumer robot company iRobot (IRBT) for $61/share in an all-cash transaction valued at ~$1.7B, including iRobot's net debt, early last month.
Warren is not only focusing on the iRobot/Amazon deal. Earlier this month she also urged the Dept. of Justice to heavily scrutinize JetBlue's (JBLU) planned purchase of Spirit Airlines (SAVE) and ultimately block the combination.