No one wants to buy Roomba maker iRobot anymore

Is this the beginning of the end for Roomba?

According to the iRobot robot vacuum, this is a real possibility.

iRobot was banking on a $1.7 billion acquisition deal from Amazon, which fell through due to regulatory issues in January 2024. Since then, iRobot has been looking for a buyer to resolve its financial problems.

On Monday, iRobot shared a regulatory filing with the SEC that said negotiations with the last remaining potential buyer broke down, as CNBC reported. The company says the bidder proposed a price per share that is “significantly lower” than what the Roomba maker’s shares are currently trading at.

iRobot’s stock fell 33% following the news.

“We are not currently in advanced negotiations with alternative counterparties for a potential sale or strategic transaction,” iRobot wrote in a statement. regulatory filing with the SEC. “As such, there can be no assurance that our review of strategic alternatives will result in a transaction or outcome.”

While Roombas were once synonymous with robot vacuums in general, the company has faced stiffer competition in recent years from rival brands like Shark. Mashable shopping journalists found that Roombas often lag behind competing vacuums in tests. Robot vacuum cleaners have also evolved considerably, and new flagship robot vacuums now offer intelligent laser mapping, to cleanand self-cleaning. But in recent years, iRobot has struggled to keep up with the competition.

iRobot has also faced considerable revenue problems in recent years and has struggled to pay its debts.

In July 2023, iRobot took out a $200 million loan to keep its operations afloat, in hopes that the company would soon be acquired by Amazon. Now iRobot must find new financing, and quickly, or the company says it “may be forced to significantly scale back or cease operations and would likely be protected from bankruptcy.”

This latest news doesn’t come as a complete surprise.

When the company shared its financial results in March, iRobot warned that it could cease its activities within 12 months. And it seems like little has changed since March, other than the fact that we’re now much closer to the 12-month mark.