On Friday (November 24th) Eastern Time, the sweeping robot company iRobot closed up nearly 40%, with its stock price rising to $41.48 per share, and its market value reaching $1.156 billion. Previously, some media reported that European regulators would approve Amazon’s acquisition of iRobot. In August last year, Amazon announced that it would acquire iRobot in cash at a price of US$61 per share. The total transaction price was approximately US$1.7 billion, including iRobot’s net debt.
However, in late July this year, the two companies announced that they had agreed to reduce the acquisition price by approximately 15%. Under the revised agreement, Amazon will acquire iRobot for $51.75 per share, for a total value of approximately $1.4 billion.
As early as February this year, media broke the news that the European Commission planned to conduct an antitrust investigation into Amazon’s acquisition of iRobot. In early July, the European Commission officially announced that it would launch an in-depth investigation into the transaction on the grounds that the transaction may restrict competition in the sweeping robot market and make it "more difficult for rival marketplace providers to compete with Amazon's online marketplace services."
Antitrust enforcement agencies around the world have stepped up scrutiny of tech giants' acquisitions of smaller rivals, concerned that a handful of companies and large businesses are using their dominant positions to enter new markets and amass troves of data.
For Amazon, the successful acquisition of iRobot will expand its smart device product portfolio. The company currently has smart products such as Alexa voice assistant, smart thermostats, security devices and wall-mounted smart displays.
It is worth mentioning that the UK Competition and Markets Authority believes that iRobot’s market power is relatively small and has approved the transaction. The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is still reviewing the merger.
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