Despite $3.49 billion in deals, the Federal Trade Commission will not challenge Amazon's One Medical deal

According to sources familiar with the decision, the Federal Trade Commission won't contest Amazon.com Inc.'s $3.49 billion acquisition of One Medical parent company 1Life Healthcare Inc., allowing the transaction to conclude later this week.

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The people, who requested anonymity to discuss an ongoing agreement, said the agency planned to send a letter to the companies notifying them that the probe is still ongoing despite the statutory deadline for the antitrust review having passed. When the online shopping behemoth acquired the movie company Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer last year, the FTC also sent out a letter referred to as a "pre-consummation warning letter."

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The FTC's long-running investigation into the company is still ongoing, but with the One Medical merger, the agency has now twice declined to obstruct a significant deal by Amazon under the progressive leadership of Chair Lina Khan.

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According to FTC spokesman Douglas Farrar, "The FTC's inquiry into Amazon's acquisition of One Medical continues." The Commission will keep examining potential harms to consumers from Amazon's control and use of private consumer health information held by One Medical as well as potential harms to competition produced by this merger.

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An FTC official who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the agency's ongoing concerns said that the agency intended to keep looking into whether Amazon used its market power to gain an advantage over competitors in the concierge medicine sector and ensure that the online retailer obtained full consumer consent for any new uses of health information.

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Amazon chose not to respond. A request for comment from One Medical was not answered.

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Health care is a sizable business that has long been a target of tech behemoths and venture investors. For years, Amazon cast a shadow over it. After acquiring PillPack Inc., a mail-order pharmacy, the business was largely incorporated into its retail website. Amazon stated in July that it will purchase One Medical, which runs more than 200 medical locations across 26 US areas. Consumers must subscribe in order to access the company's doctors and 24-hour digital health services.

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Experts had initially predicted that Amazon would include the telehealth offering into Amazon Care, which provided both online and in-person medical services. Nevertheless, a month after the One Medical partnership was announced, Amazon revealed other plans, announcing that it was shutting down the telehealth service because it wasn't long-term viable.

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As a result of worries about Amazon's influence over its online marketplace, the FTC has been looking into the firm since 2019. According to Trade Algo, the agency is getting ready to initiate a monopolization lawsuit against the massive e-commerce company this spring.

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Over the past few years, Amazon has made a series of high-profile purchases, including the $13.7 billion purchase of Whole Foods Market in 2017 and the $8.5 billion acquisition of MGM in 2022. It had plans to purchase Roomba and One Medical manufacturer iRobot Corp. for $1.65 billion last year.

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The FTC launched a thorough investigation into the iRobot acquisition in September and is still analyzing it.

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