Amazon sweeps up Roomba maker iRobot for $1.7 billion

Amazon has made a huge move in the home robotics sector by acquiring iRobot, the maker of Roomba robot vacuums, for $1.7 billion in an all-cash deal. The acquisition, announced on Friday, will deepen Amazon's presence in consumer robotics and smart home devices.

iRobot, founded in 1990 by MIT roboticists, is best known for its Roomba, a robotic vacuum launched in 2002 that can clean consumers' floors autonomously. It has also introduced robotic mops and pool cleaners. iRobot also has a subscription program that offers automatic equipment replenishment, among other services.

Amazon is buying iRobot at a time when the robot maker is facing broad headwinds. The company reported second-quarter results on Friday that showed a 30% decline in revenue from a year earlier, primarily due to "unanticipated order reductions, delays and cancellations" from retailers in North America and Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

The deal will also give Amazon access to iRobot's latest OS, an AI-powered platform for its robot vacuums and mops. The iRobot OS is designed to differentiate Roomba products from competitors with additional software features and capabilities as the robot cleaning space gets increasingly competitive.

"Over many years, the iRobot team has proven its ability to reinvent how people clean with products that are incredibly practical and inventive — from cleaning when and where customers want while avoiding common obstacles in the home, to automatically emptying the collection bin," said Dave Limp, Amazon's hardware devices chief, in a statement. "Customers love iRobot products — and I'm excited to work with the iRobot team to invent in ways that make customers' lives easier and more enjoyable."

The acquisition marks Amazon's fourth-largest deal, behind its $13.7 billion purchase of grocery chain Whole Foods in 2017, its $8.45 billion purchase of film studio MGM last year, and its $3.9 billion acquisition of boutique primary-care provider One Medical, announced last month.

The deal is still subject to regulatory approvals in the U.S. and Europe. The U.K.'s Competition and Markets Authority cleared the deal on Friday, saying it concluded that the deal would not result in a "substantial lessening of competition" within the U.K.

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