: IRobot’s stock sinks after European regulators express concerns about Amazon deal

Shares of iRobot Corp. IRBT were falling nearly 20% in Monday afternoon trading after the European Commission said it informed Amazon.com Inc. AMZN that its pending deal for the maker of robot vacuum cleaners (RVCs) may harm competition. “Amazon may have the ability and the incentive to foreclose iRobot’s rivals by engaging in several foreclosing strategies aimed at preventing rivals from selling RVCs on Amazon’s online marketplace and/or at degrading their access to it,” the European Commission said in a Monday statement. The Commission has until Feb. 14 to make a final determination about the merger. The plunge in iRobot shares Monday comes after the stock closed up 39% in Friday’s session amid optimism for the deal. Amazon shares were up 1.5% in Monday afternoon action.

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