Amazon to acquire Roomba maker iRobot for $1.7 billion

(iRobot Photo)

Amazon is set to make another major acquisition.

The Seattle tech giant said Friday it will scoop up iRobot, the Boston-area company known for its Roomba vacuum, in a $1.7 billion deal.

The news comes just two weeks after Amazon announced it will acquire primary care company One Medical for $3.9 billion.

This would be Amazon’s fourth-largest acquisition ever, behind its $13.7 billion purchase of Whole Foods, the $8.45 billion deal to buy MGM, and the One Medical acquisition.

The iRobot deal signals Amazon’s large appetite for acquisitions amid the economic downturn and despite increasing U.S. antitrust scrutiny.

Amazon will acquire iRobot for $61 per share, about a 22% premium from the company’s stock price at market close Thursday. Shares of iRobot were up nearly 20% in pre-market trading Friday.

The deal marks Amazon’s latest investment in the smart home. The company is working on its own home robot, Astro, which debuted in September, and has an array of smart home technology products such as Ring cameras and Alexa-enabled devices.

Amazon acquired Ring in 2018 for $1 billion, and bought mesh WiFi startup eero in 2019.

There are existing connections between Amazon and iRobot: Alexa can control Roomba devices already, and iRobot uses Amazon Web Services.

In addition to consumer robotics, Amazon is also developing robots for the company’s warehouses. Amazon earlier this year invested in Agility Robotics, maker of a bipedal warehouse robot called Digit. It acquired warehouse robot developer Kiva for $775 million in 2012.

Last month GeekWire sat down with Ken Washington, Amazon’s vice president of consumer robotics, who leads the Astro team, at the company’s re:MARS conference in Las Vegas.

Founded in 1990 by researchers from MIT Artificial Intelligence Lab, iRobot unveiled the Roomba in 2002. The company also sells robotic mops, air purifiers, and more.

iRobot shares have fallen more than 40% this year. The company’s second quarter revenue, reported Friday, fell to $255.4 million, down from $365.6 million in the year-ago period. It blamed declining revenue on unanticipated order reductions, delays and cancellations from retailers, lower-than-anticipated direct-to-consumer sales, and the impact of changes in foreign exchange rates.

The company’s GAAP operating loss grew to $63.9 million in the quarter, up from a $3 million loss last year.

iRobot said it plans to lay off 140 people, about 10% of its workforce, as part of a restructuring.

iRobot has 15.7 million customers (those who have opted-in to its digital communications), up 35% from the second quarter of 2021.

The company’s CEO and chairman, Colin Angle, will continue leading iRobot following the acquisition.

Perhaps there were earlier signs of Amazon’s interest in iRobot — CNBC reporter Jordan Novet recalled this Instagram post from Amazon founder Jeff Bezos back in 2018.



from GeekWire https://ift.tt/5pM2lbd

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

This tech-fueled service will provide bus transportation for Seattle Public Schools

Image
Students using Zum transportation tap into rides using RFID-enabled passes. (Zum Photo) When Seattle Public Schools students return to the classroom in September, many of their families will be along for the ride — at least virtually. The district of more than 50,000 students has contracted with California tech startup Zum to provide half of its bus service. Using the Zum system, “all of the stakeholders are connected. There’s a full transparency and visibility at all times of where the children are,” said founder and CEO Ritu Narayen . “People used to say, I can track my pizza [delivery], but I have no idea where my children are once they are on the school bus. That issue is completely removed.” Parents get a Zum app to track their kids’ buses and drivers. Students tap an RFID-enabled pass when boarding vehicles to sign into the ride. Ritu Narayen, Zum CEO and founder. (Zum Photo) Narayen began working on the idea for Zum in 2015 after facing transportation challenges for h
Read more

The rise of high-tech real estate investing platforms and their effect on housing affordability

Image
An example of a multifamily housing in Seattle’s Ballard neighborhood. (Sightline Institute Photo / Creative Commons ) Real estate tech startups are making it easier for people to invest and manage property. But critics argue that these software companies and their business models are gobbling up the limited amount of available housing in the process, driving up costs and pushing out first-time buyers.  These investing services encourage users to invest in multiple properties, taking away already scarce housing inventory, said Tram Tran-Larson, a community engagement manager for the Housing Justice Project, a Seattle-based legal aid clinic that provides eviction defense for low income tenants and is part of the King County Bar Association. This drives up costs for available housing, she added. But researchers argue that the lack of affordable housing has more to do with the limited supply, not the proliferation of tech-enabled real estate investing platforms. Sheharyar Bokhari.
Read more