Amazon to acquire Roomba maker iRobot for $1.7B

Aug. 5 (UPI) -- Amazon and iRobot announced Friday that they've signed an agreement for Amazon to acquire iRobot -- the company that makes the Roomba vacuum -- for $1.7 billion.

"Since we started iRobot, our team has been on a mission to create innovative, practical products that make customers' lives easier, leading to inventions like the Roomba and iRobot OS," iRobot chairman and CEO Colin Angle said in a statement.

"Amazon shares our passion for building thoughtful innovations that empower people to do more at home, and I cannot think of a better place for our team to continue our mission. I'm hugely excited to be a part of Amazon and to see what we can build together for customers in the years ahead," Angle said.

In the joint corporate statement, Amazon Devices' Dave Limp said, "We know that saving time matters, and chores take precious time that can be better spent doing something that customers love.

"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," Limp said.

Amazon will pay $61 a share in an all-cash deal valued at approximately $1.7 billion. That includes covering iRobot's net debt, according to the statement.

Colin Angle will stay on as CEO of iRobot. The transaction is subject to closing conditions that include approval of the deal by iRobot's shareholders and regulatory approval.

The deal will strengthen Amazon's consumer robotics investments. The iRobot acquisition is Amazon's fourth-largest purchase of a company.

In 2017, Amazon bought Whole Foods for $13.7 billion.

This year, in March, Amazon bought MGM for $8.5 billion. Amazon also acquired One Medical for $3.9 billion in July.