iRobot to lay off 31 percent of staff after Amazon deal collapses

After long deliberation, Amazon has decided to call off its $1.7 billion USD (roughly $2.2 billion CAD at the time) acquisition of iRobot.

The e-commerce giant’s deal had a February 14th, 2024 deadline, before which it had to get a thumbs-up from European Union regulators.

First revealed in August 2022, the acquisition was cleared by U.K. regulators in 2023. However, according to EU regulators, the deal could seriously harm competition and innovation in the robo-vacuum market and create an unfair advantage for Amazon and iRobot over other robo-vacuum makers.

Regulators also added that Amazon might favour iRobot over listings for other robo-vacuum brands on its e-commerce platform, and would also allow Amazon to collect more personal data from its customers.

“iRobot is an innovation pioneer with a clear vision to make consumer robots a reality,” said Colin Angle, Founder of iRobot. “The termination of the agreement with Amazon is disappointing, but iRobot now turns toward the future with a focus and commitment to continue building thoughtful robots and intelligent home innovations that make life better, and that our customers around the world love.”

Both companies have signed a termination agreement, and Amazon has agreed to pay a $94 million USD (roughly $126 million CAD) termination fee to iRobot.

iRobot will also go through a major restructuring, as shared by The Verge. The restructuring will involve cutting around 350 jobs, or 31 percent of its workforce, by the end of March. Additionally, Colin Angle will step down, and Glen Weinstein, iRobot’s executive vice president and chief legal officer, will serve as interim CEO.

You can read more about the changes iRobot will go through as part of its restructuring effort here.

Source: iRobot, Via: The Verge