FTC Is Preparing Potential Antitrust Case Against Amazon

The US Federal Trade Commission is preparing a possible lawsuit against Amazon.com Inc. that could be filed as soon as this spring, according to people familiar with the investigations.

The allegations the agency is preparing to make and the timeline for filing a complaint are still in flux, said the people, who asked not to be named speaking about a confidential probe.

The agency, which has both antitrust and consumer protection mandates, has been investigating Amazon for several years. A probe into the e-commerce giant’s retail business, which started in 2019 under the Trump administration, later expanded into recent acquisitions, such as the $8.45 billion MGM studio deal, and cancellation policies related to Amazon’s Prime service.

The company also has two deals under antitrust review at the agency: a $3.5 billion acquisition of One Medical parent 1Life Healthcare Inc. and the $1.65 billion deal to buy Roomba vacuum maker iRobot Corp.

Those deals could potentially be included in an FTC antitrust complaint, the people said.

The FTC and Amazon declined to comment. The Wall Street Journal reported earlier that the FTC is preparing a possible complaint.

--With assistance from Matt Day.

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Leah Nylen in Washington at lnylen2@bloomberg.net

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Sara Forden at sforden@bloomberg.net

Robin Ajello

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