iRobot, the maker of Roomba vacuum cleaners, has entered voluntary bankruptcy proceedings with several subsidiaries under Chapter 11 protection of the US bankruptcy law as part of the restructuring agreement reached with the Chinese company Shenzhen Picea Robotics. The latter will become the owner of Roomba and iRobot will cease to be listed on Nasdaq, according to Europa Press.
iRobot, which will continue to operate normally during the bankruptcy phase and plans to complete the process by February 2026, views this restructuring agreement as “a crucial step” in strengthening the company’s financial foundation and positioning it for long-term growth.
Under the terms of the agreement, Picea, iRobot’s primary lender and manufacturer, will receive 100% of the company’s shares, allowing the company to continue operations and improve its financial stability, as well as reduce debt and drive innovation in its portfolio of robotics and smart home devices.
Once the transaction is finalized, iRobot will become a private company 100% owned by Picea and its shares will be delisted from the Nasdaq Stock Exchange. Similarly, iRobot anticipates that if the Delaware District Court approves the bankruptcy plan, the company’s shareholders will not receive any equity interest in the reorganized company, so shareholders “will experience a total loss and will not recover their investment.”
“Today’s announcement marks a critical step in securing iRobot’s long-term future,” said iRobot CEO Gary Cohen.
The maker of “Roomba,” founded in 1990 and which went public in 2005, had already warned last March of “substantial doubts” about its ability to continue operating despite uncertainty due to the impact on consumer demand of competition, macroeconomic conditions and tariffs.
In January 2024, US e-commerce giant Amazon canceled a deal to acquire iRobot, saying the transaction showed no signs of gaining approval from European Union regulators, who had warned months earlier that the purchase could “restrict” competition.
After the failure of the operation, iRobot announced a restructuring plan aimed at strengthening its financial base and which involved an adjustment of the workforce by more than 50%.
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