Lately, it has confronted competitors from cheaper Chinese language rivals, together with Picea, placing stress on gross sales and forcing iRobot to cut back headcount. A administration shake-up in early 2024 noticed the departure of its co-founder as chief government.
Amazon proposed shopping for the corporate in 2023, seeing synergy with its Alexa-powered good audio system and Ring doorbells.
EU regulators, nonetheless, pushed again on the deal, elevating issues it will result in decreased visibility for rival vacuum cleaner manufacturers on Amazon’s web site.
Amazon and iRobot terminated the deal little greater than a month after Adobe’s $10 billion buy of design software program maker Figma was deserted amid heightened US antitrust scrutiny below Joe Biden’s administration.
Though iRobot acquired $94 million in compensation for the termination of its take care of Amazon, a good portion was used to pay advisory charges and repay a part of a $200 million mortgage from personal fairness group Carlyle.
Picea’s Hong Kong subsidiary acquired the remaining $191 million of debt from Carlyle final month. On the time, iRobot already owed Picea $161.5 million for manufacturing providers, almost $91 million of which was overdue.
Alvarez & Marsal is serving as iRobot’s funding banker and monetary adviser. The corporate is receiving authorized recommendation from Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison.
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