Shares of iRobot plunge 40% on report EU will block purchase by Amazon

By Bill Peters

European Commission leaders would still need to approve that decision, the Wall Street Journal said

Shares of iRobot Corp. plummeted after hours on Thursday after the Wall Street Journal reported that the European Union plans to block Amazon.com Inc.'s purchase of the Roomba maker.

The Journal, citing people familiar with the matter, said officials at the EU's executive branch, the European Commission, told Amazon on Thursday that the deal was likely to be rejected. Commission leaders would still need to formally approve that decision, the Journal noted.

Shares of iRobot (IRBT) fell 40% after hours on Thursday. Amazon's (AMZN) stock was up fractionally after hours.

Amazon announced in 2022 that it planned to buy iRobot in a $1.7 billion deal, a move that would have helped the online-retail giant expand further into the realm of smart-home devices.

But as a MarketWatch column noted this month, a tougher stance on Amazon from regulators, in both the U.S. and abroad, had threatened its bid for iRobot.

-Bill Peters

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01-18-24 2024ET

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