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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.
Last month, Amazon said it is buying primary care provider One Medical (NASDAQ: ONEM) for $3.49 billion, expanding the e-commerce giant’s virtual healthcare and adding brick-and-mortar doctors’ offices for the first time.
Picture Credit: BBC
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