Amazon.com Inc. AMZN -1.73% is buying Roomba maker iRobot Corp. IRBT +19.23% for $1.7 billion, giving the online retailer another connected-home product that deepens its ties to consumers’ homes.
Amazon agreed to pay $61 a share for iRobot in an all-cash deal. The price, which includes a small amount of debt, represents a 22% premium to iRobot’s closing price of $49.99 on Thursday.
iRobot shares rose 19% to $59.54 in recent trading. They are off 9.7% year to date. Amazon shares fell 0.8% to $141.41.
iRobot introduced its Roomba vacuum in 2002 and has sold more than 40 million units since. The wireless, smart-vacuum learns and maps spaces to clean dust and messes. It is a staple of Amazon’s Prime Day shopping bonanza, having been a featured product for eight straight years.
iRobot in May had projected reaching sales of $1.6 billion to $1.7 billion this year. It withdrew that guidance on Friday in light of the deal and other challenges.
Roomba would join other Amazon-owned products like the Alexa virtual assistant speaker and Ring video doorbell that together give the retailer more ways to power smart homes.
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Source: Amazon Buying Roomba Maker iRobot for $1.7 Billion – WSJ
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