Amazon has put $ 1.7 billion on the table to buy the entirety of the shares of iRobot, the American company known worldwide for the Roomba series of robot vacuum cleaners, as reported by the Wall Street Journal . Although the company is the reference brand in the sector, it has probably suffered from the growing competition due to the success of the category and in recent months it has lost profitability closing its balance sheets in deficit.

The stock, which was worth 68 dollars at the beginning of 2022, had dropped to around 35 in mid-July and then climbed back to 50 dollars per share. Amazon offering $ 61 in cash provides a premium of around 20%. The total investment envisaged by Amazon: 1.7 billion, is slightly higher than the 2021 turnover: 1.56 billion. Amazon is also committed to clearing the company’s debt.

The market does not seem to expect a further offer. Amazon is committed to building an ecosystem of home appliances to make Alexa the ‘smart home’ hub competing with Google.