Amazon’s $1.7 billion acquisition
Today Amazon (AMZN) announced its acquisition of robotic cleaning company iRobot (IRBT). The buyout is set for $61 a share, with an opening price on August 5th of around $50 a share. IRBT sells all matter of floor care products, from filters on vacuums to the vacuums themselves. However, IRBT’s claim to fame is their line of Roomba vacuuming robots. These robots use mapping software to clean rooms, with later models using pseudo-AI to improve the route the robot takes with every clean. It also has sensors to prevent it from falling out off stairs or getting stuck in corners. It also has a a charging station that it goes to at the end of the cleaning cycle, practically erasing any human contact needed.
Why does AMZN want to buyout IRBT?
In the most likely scenario, I can see AMZN integrating their Alexa smart home software into Roomba products, for example, “Hey Alexa, clean the dining room please!” Then a Roomba would go and clean the dining room.
Compared to other acquisitions, this deal is considerably safer alternative. For example, when looked at in comparison to the Twitter (TWTR) buyout, there are several components that make this deal safer. In the TWTR, the purchase is being made by one person, while in this deal the buying party is a massive corporation. In the IRBT deal there is a clear motive for purchase, where such technology could be easily integrated into existing AMZN technology while in the TWTR deal the motive is much more unclear, most likely being Elon Musk trying to discretely convert his Tesla stock into Twitter stock. This means that the deal much more likely to go smoothly, and overall is a fairly safe investment.