A U.S. bankruptcy judge on Thursday approved a Chinese manufacturer’s bid to acquire Roomba maker iRobot, although the sale still requires clearance from other U.S. regulators.
The company filed for bankruptcy in December after being pressured by lower-priced competitors, including Chinese rivals like Ecovacs, and U.S. tariffs that cost iRobot $23 million in 2025, according to court filings.
iRobot entered Chapter 11 with about $190 million in debt and a prepackaged plan to sell its business to China-based Picea Robotics, its primary manufacturer of robotic vacuum cleaners.
U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Brendan Shannon approved iRobot’s plan at a court hearing in Wilmington, Delaware, after noting that it had “overwhelming support” from its creditors, and no stakeholder opposed the sale.
The bankruptcy will wipe out existing equity shares, but iRobot has committed to paying all junior creditors, including vendors and suppliers, in full.
The U.S. government said in a Tuesday court filing that the iRobot sale might be subject to a review by the U.S. Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, an interagency body that vets foreign investments into U.S. companies for national security risks.
CFIUS can review any transaction that gives a foreign buyer or investor access to U.S. persons’ sensitive data, but the government’s filing did not detail any specific security concern. Roomba vacuums collect spatial data as they clean, creating maps of customers’ homes.
Roberto Kampfner, an attorney representing Picea, told Shannon that Picea was discussing the sale with U.S. regulators.
“We have taken steps to ensure that the data security and protection issues that exist in this case are dealt with appropriately,” Kampfner said.
Amazon.com tried to buy iRobot for $1.4 billion in 2023, but the deal fell apart after opposition from EU and U.S. antitrust regulators.
Reuters
