iRobot is paying the price for abandoning its acquisition attempt by Amazon. The online retail giant had put $1.4 billion on the table to acquire the services of the Roomba manufacturer, but it ran into trouble with the European regulator. Brussels had estimated that the operator could curb the robot vacuum market. Amazon, which had submitted the purchase offer in 2022, preferred to abandon the transaction.
In the wake of this abandonment, iRobot cut almost a third of its workforce. And we learned, at Thanks to the quarterly results, the company was launching a "formal strategic review" of its assets, with several key alternatives: debt refinancing or simply a sale.
iRobot's market capitalization has melted like snow in the sun, it is now less than $200 million. iRobot also recorded a net loss of $77 million in the fourth quarter and its revenue declined by 44%. Despite the launch of new products, their success is not guaranteed in the face of competition and current uncertainties.
The situation is further complicated by the fact that iRobot has taken out a $200 million loan from Carlyle Group, which is imposing very heavy interest rates. It was signed in 2023, while the company goes through the acquisition process by Amazon. But as we now know, this did not happen.
Source: Bloomberg
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