Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ: AMZN) on Friday said the e-commerce giant would acquire the robot vacuum cleaner maker iRobot Corp (NASDAQ: IRBT) for about $1.7 billion in the latest push to add smart home devices to its Alexa ecosystem
Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ: AMZN) on Friday said the e-commerce giant would acquire the robot vacuum cleaner maker iRobot Corp (NASDAQ: IRBT) for about $1.7 billion in the latest push to add smart home devices to its Alexa ecosystem.
The world’s largest online retailer will pay $61 cash per share, valuing iRobot at a premium of 22% from the stock’s last closing price of $49.99.
iRobot, which makes smart vacuum cleaners, Roomba, traded at $197.4, at its peak, during pandemic lockdowns.
Besides sweeping up dirt, the Roomba vacuums that cost as much as $1,000 collect spatial data on households that could prove valuable to Amazon, which is developing so-called smart home technology.
Devices make up for a fraction of the overall sales of Amazon, which sells smart thermostats, security devices, wall-mounted smart displays and had recently launched a robot called Astro.
Amazon said the company will pay $94 million to iRobot as a termination fee if the deal gets canceled.
On completion of the deal, Colin Angle will remain as the chief executive of iRobot.