US Tech Giants Have Scuttled Over $70B In M&A Deals Following EU, UK Pushback

Lately, it seems like a lot of large technology acquisitions have fallen apart following pushback from European and U.K. antitrust regulators. In tandem, the value of these deals that didn鈥檛 get done continues to mount.

The latest scuttled transaction, 鈥檚 planned purchase of robot vacuum maker for around $1.35 billion, would have been one of the largest in the consumer electronics space. On Monday, however, the retail giant it has terminated the acquisition, citing 鈥渦ndue and disproportionate regulatory hurdles.鈥�

The deal faced scrutiny from both U.S. and EU antitrust regulators. However, it was the latter that objected most forcefully and publicly, with the in November that the proposed tie-up could hamper rival robot vacuum brands鈥� ability to compete.

The Amazon deal was the latest merger involving American technology companies to come apart in the wake of objections from EU and U.K. regulators. But it was by no means the largest. Others include:

called off its planned $20 billion purchase of design software provider in December, that it saw 鈥渘o clear path to receive necessary regulatory approvals from the European Commission and the UK Competition and Markets Authority鈥� to complete the deal.
In October, the European Commission ordered genomics company to unwind its already completed acquisition of , a cancer test provider it purchased for $8 billion in 2021. It was reportedly the first time the EC ordered a reversal of an acquisition.
paid $400 million in 2020 to acquire , a New York startup known for its searchable library of animated GIFs. Several months later, Meta decided to sell Giphy, facing backlash from British regulators concerned the deal would lessen competition in social media and the display advertising market. Giphy sold to in May 2023 for $53 million.
鈥檚 plan to acquire a rival chipmaker, U.K.-based , for $40 billion fell apart two years ago following from regulators on both sides of the Atlantic. Arm went public on its own a few quarters later and was recently valued around $73 billion.

By this sampling alone, more than $70 billion worth of planned acquisitions by American technology companies have not come to fruition following scrutiny and objections from EU and U.K. antitrust authorities. That said, it鈥檚 pretty common for scuttled deals to have faced regulatory pushback from both sides of the Atlantic.

For instance, the largest withdrawn merger 鈥斅� the Nvidia-Arm tie-up 鈥� faced considerable scrutiny from U.S. authorities. In the end, the U.S. that the deal would likely harm competition in the semiconductor industry.

Several media outlets also reported that the FTC planned to reject Amazon’s deal with iRobot, although the agency didn鈥檛 disclose this publicly prior to Monday鈥檚 termination announcement. In recent years, the agency, under Chair , has been more aggressive in reining in or rejecting acquisitions by large technology companies.

Meanwhile, several Big Tech acquisitions announced in the past few quarters have yet to close, and could likely face regulatory objections. This includes 鈥檚 planned purchase of Israeli semiconductor company . Big Tech investments in generative AI, including 鈥檚 funding of , have also attracted the attention of U.S. and European regulators.

Others have gotten done, such as 鈥檚 purchase of , which in November.

Expectations of stepped-up antitrust enforcement is likely a contributing factor to a slowdown in technology M&A activity in recent quarters. Per , acquisitions of venture-backed startups hit an eight-year low last year.

Of course, there are other factors to point to besides regulatory pushback. Cash has become more expensive, while many startups have seen their valuations plummet from the highs of 2021.

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