Amazon-iRobot agreement canceled following EU objection

In a joint statement, the firms expressed their disappointment over the lack of a clear regulatory pathway to allow them to acquire the Roomba producer.

The transaction, which was first reported in 2022, would have been among Amazon’s biggest acquisitions to date.

With employment losses announced, iRobot is suffering greatly as a result of the deal’s termination. Due to declining sales, the manufacturer of robot vacuums said that it would immediately start a reorganization process that would result in the loss of 350 jobs, or 31% of its workforce.

The business is also cutting back on research expenditures and reducing the size of its office space. The company’s CEO is also quitting.

The firms announced in the announcement that they had mutually decided to call off the acquisition and that Amazon would pay the $94 billion break-up fee.

According to Amazon, the result shows that the decisions made by regulators to prevent mergers in the interest of promoting competition and shielding customers from monopolies are having the opposite effect as intended.

On hearing the news, iRobot’s stock fell more than 15%. Thus far this year, they have decreased by over 50%.