The iRobot headquarters in Bedford, Massachusetts, US, on Friday, June 16, 2023. Amazon.com Inc.’s proposed $1.7 billion deal to buy robot vacuum firm iRobot Corp. was given the all-clear by the UKs antitrust agency. Photographer: Sophie Park/Bloomberg via Getty Images
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Amazon said on Monday it would not move forward with a planned acquisition of vacuum-maker iRobot, with the two companies saying in a release there was “no path to regulatory approval for the deal.”
The vacuum maker also announced it would lay off 31% of its employees, around 350 people, and that its chair and CEO Colin Angle would step down effective immediately.
iRobot shares plunged 15% on the news.
“We’re disappointed that Amazon’s acquisition of iRobot could not proceed,” Amazon senior vice president and general counsel David Zapolsky said in a release.
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This story originally appeared on CNBC
