NEW YORK, March 12, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Faruqi & Faruqi, LLP, a leading national securities law firm, is investigating potential claims against iRobot Corporation (“iRobot” or the “Company”) (NASDAQ: IRBT) and reminds investors of the May 7, 2024 deadline to seek the role of lead plaintiff in a federal securities class action that has been filed against the Company.
Faruqi & Faruqi, LLP Securities Litigation Partner James (Josh) Wilson Encourages Investors Who Suffered Losses In iRobot To Contact Him Directly To Discuss Their Options
If you purchased or acquired securities in iRobot between August 5, 2022 and January 26, 2024 and would like to discuss your legal rights, call Faruqi & Faruqi partner Josh Wilson directly at 877-247-4292 or 212-983-9330 (Ext. 1310). You may also click here for additional information: www.faruqilaw.com/IRBT.
Faruqi & Faruqi is a leading national securities law firm with offices in New York, Pennsylvania, California and Georgia. The firm has recovered hundreds of millions of dollars for investors since its founding in 1995. See www.faruqilaw.com.
As detailed below, the complaint alleges that the Company and its executives violated federal securities laws by making false and/or misleading statements and/or failing to disclose that: (1) the Merger would place Amazon in a sufficiently dominant position in the market for RVCs that U.S. and European antitrust regulators were unlikely to approve the Merger; (ii) iRobot had conducted inadequate due diligence into the Merger and/or ignored significant risks weighing against the likelihood of regulatory approval; (3) as a result of all the foregoing, iRobot overstated the likelihood for successfully completing the Merger; and (iv) as a result, the Company’s public statements were materially false and misleading at all relevant times.
On June 22, 2023, news outlets reported that Europe’s antitrust regulator, the European Commission (“EC”), was planning to launch a full-scale investigation into the Merger.
On this news, iRobot’s stock price fell $4.12 per share, or 8.32%, to close at $45.41 per share on June 22, 2023.
On November 27, 2023, the EC announced that it “has informed Amazon of its preliminary view that its proposed acquisition of iRobot may restrict competition in the market for [RVCs].” In particular, the EC advised that, “[a]s a result of [its] in-depth investigation, the [EC] is concerned that Amazon may restrict competition in the European Economic Area (‘EEA’)-wide and/or national markets for RVCs, by hampering rival RVC suppliers’ ability to effectively compete” (emphasis in original).
On this news, iRobot’s stock price fell $7.13 per share, or 17.19%, to close at $34.35 per share on November 27, 2023.
On January 10, 2024, news outlets reported that Amazon did not offer concessions to the EC to appease the regulator’s concerns about the Merger. For example, POLITICO reported that day that “[t]he European Union’s webpage on the deal shows that the companies didn’t make an offer by the end of the day on Wednesday, its last chance to tackle European Union objections that Amazon could hamper rival vacuum cleaners’ sales on Amazon’s online marketplace.”
On this news, iRobot’s stock price fell $7.33 per share, or 19.77%, to close at $29.75 per share on January 10, 2024.
On January 18, 2024, the Wall Street Journal reported that “[t]he European Union’s competition watchdog intends to block Amazon’s $1.7 billion bid to purchase Roomba maker iRobot,” citing “people familiar with the matter[.]”
On January 19, 2024, Bloomberg separately reported that the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) was drafting a lawsuit to block the Merger.
Following these reports, iRobot’s stock price fell $6.36 per share, or 26.93%, to close at $17.26 per share on January 19, 2024.
Then, on January 29, 2024, Amazon and iRobot announced their entry “into a mutual agreement” to terminate the previously announced Merger. Concurrently, iRobot announced the resignation of its Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board of Directors, as well as plans to cut approximately 31% of its workforce.
Later the same day, Reuters reported that FTC staff had notified Amazon the week before that it planned to block the Merger.
Following these disclosures, iRobot’s stock price fell $1.49 per share, or 8.77%, to close at $15.50 per share on January 29, 2024.
The court-appointed lead plaintiff is the investor with the largest financial interest in the relief sought by the class who is adequate and typical of class members who directs and oversees the litigation on behalf of the putative class. Any member of the putative class may move the Court to serve as lead plaintiff through counsel of their choice, or may choose to do nothing and remain an absent class member. Your ability to share in any recovery is not affected by the decision to serve as a lead plaintiff or not.
Faruqi & Faruqi, LLP also encourages anyone with information regarding iRobot’s conduct to contact the firm, including whistleblowers, former employees, shareholders and others.
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