Feds may block Amazon’s acquisition of One Medical

Rumor has it federal agencies are preparing a case to litigate Amazon’s planned nearly $4 billion acquisition of primary care provider One Medical. 

Amazon announced its intent to acquire One Medical in July 2022, and the $3.9 billion deal came under fire right away, with critics voicing their concerns about Amazon’s growing size and reach. One Medical, based in San Francisco, offers a combination of in-person, digital and virtual care services. Regulators in Oregon recently approved the deal after a review.

And now, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) could spring a lawsuit on the e-commerce giant as early as this spring to block the deal, Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the matter. However, the timeline and the allegations the FTC may make are not set in stone, the report stated. 

Amazon is already under investigation by the FTC for antitrust violations since the agency launched a probe into Amazon’s retail business in 2019. That probe has since expanded into acquisitions. The deal with One Medical’s parent company 1Life Healthcare and Amazon’s $1.65 billion acquisition of iRobot Corp., the maker of the Roomba vacuum, are both under antitrust review by the FTC. Both deals could be included in the complaint, Bloomberg reported. 

Amazon has already made moves to push back against a potential FTC lawsuit, asking the agency to recuse FTC Chair Lina Khan from the case. As a law student at Yale, Khan wrote a legal paper about Amazon’s potential antitrust violations in 2017, Bloomberg reported. As chair, she has pushed the agency into taking a more active role in challenging mergers and conduct of major tech companies, Bloomberg said. However, the FTC has so far brushed off Amazon’s objections about Khan. 

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