Amazon has acquired iRobot for $1.7 billion in cash as the mega corporation looks to expand its offering of home devices.
iRobot is a robotics manufacturer with a specialty of house-keeping devices and domestic gadgets. The robotics company is best known for the Roomba — a small disc-shaped robot that can vacuum a home's floors independently.
The acquisition is pending approval from iRobot's shareholders.
"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," said senior vice-president of Amazon Devices Dave Limp.
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Limp added, "Customers love iRobot products—and I’m excited to work with the iRobot team to invent in ways that make customers’ lives easier and more enjoyable."
Amazon's purchase of iRobot shows the company's commitment to home devices like Echo speakers, Fire tablets and Ring security systems.
The company is being sold for $61 a share and Amazon will take on all of iRobot's debts.
"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," said iRobot CEO Colin Angle.
Angle added, "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 will remain iRobot's CEO after the merger is complete.
