On Friday, November 24th Eastern Time, iRobot, a robotic vacuum cleaner company, closed up nearly 40%, with its stock price rising to $41.48 per share and its market value reaching $1.156 billion. Previously, there were media reports that European regulatory agencies would approve Amazon's acquisition of iRobot.
Last August, Amazon announced that it would acquire iRobot in cash for $61 per share, with a total transaction price of approximately $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 about 15%. According to the revised agreement, Amazon will acquire iRobot for a total value of approximately $1.4 billion at a price of $51.75 per share.
As early as February this year, there were media reports 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 conduct an in-depth investigation into this transaction, citing the possibility of restricting competition in the robotic vacuum market and making it more difficult for competitors' market providers to compete with Amazon's online market services.
Anti monopoly enforcement agencies around the world have strengthened their scrutiny of technology giants acquiring smaller competitors, fearing that a few companies and large corporations may use their dominant position to enter new markets and accumulate large amounts 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 assistants, smart thermostats, security devices, and wall mounted smart displays.
It is worth mentioning that the UK Competition and Market Authority considers iRobot's market dominance to be relatively small and has approved this transaction. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is still reviewing this merger.