Amazon’s deal to buy iRobot, maker of Roomba, has been canceled, the corporations announced today, after iRobot said the deal had “no path to regulatory approval in the European Union. “iRobot also announces that it is laying off about 330 workers, or about 31%. of its workforce, as part of a restructuring. The company plans to notify most affected workers by the end of March, The Verge reported.
As part of the announcement, Colin Angle, president and CEO of iRobot, who co-founded the company in 1990, will step down from both roles. iRobot’s current Executive Vice President and General Counsel, Glen Weinstein, will assume the role of interim CEO. , and Andrew Miller, a former independent senior director on the board of directors, will serve as chairman.
As part of the restructuring, iRobot is postponing work on outdoor devices from its core line of floor cleaning products, such as air purifiers and lawn mowers, and closing offices and facilities in “smaller, underperforming geographies. “
The announcement comes after the $1.4 billion acquisition ran into difficulties with EU regulators. Last November, the European Commission said it believed the deal had the potential to restrict competition in the robot cleaner market. Many of iRobot’s competitors also sell their devices on Amazon’s online store, and regulators were concerned that Amazon would delist or reduce the visibility of rival robot vacuum cleaners, restricting competition and “leading to higher prices, lower quality, and less innovation for consumers.”
TechCrunch reported that a year and a half after announcing plans to acquire iRobot, Amazon’s deal is officially dead. All parties involved expected some regulatory checkpoint, but after a few decades of corporate consolidation, few expected such friction.
The deal had already been followed by some foreign regulators, including the UK. Ultimately, the European Union’s recent crackdown on mergers and acquisitions perceived as anti-competitive proved to be the final nail in the coffin.
“iRobot is a cutting-edge pioneer with a transparent vision for making customers’ robots a reality,” Angle said in a statement. “The termination of the agreement with Amazon is disappointing, but iRobot is now in the long run with the drive and commitment of “We continue to build thoughtful robots and smart home inventions that make life bigger and that our customers around the world love. “
Mashable has indicated that Amazon will be fine after the termination of this agreement. However, the same can’t be said for iRobot. When Amazon first announced its plans to acquire maker Roomba in August 2022, it considered it something of a rescue for iRobot.
Personally, I love our little Roomba cleaner and hope it keeps working for a long time. That said, I’m not happy about staff losing their jobs because of things beyond their control.
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