As it still stands I-Robot (IRBT) is being acquired by Amazon (AMZN) for $61 per share in an all cash deal. The announcement was back in early August of this year. I-Robot stockholders have officially approved the merger with Amazon.
To analyze the opportunity here let's begin with the deal itself. All cash deals always have a higher likelyhood of going through and this one is approved by shareholders. So we have one checkbox marked off. Next is the spread worth it? With IRBT stock currently at $52.57 a share and the deal price being $61 we currently have a whopping 16% return. The next hurdle is the possiblity of regulatory action denying the merger. There is a lot of speculation this deal won't make it past regulatory approval. I remember when there was a lot of speculation on the Fitbit merger being blocked as well and it ended up going through anyway.
I think it is worth averaging into IRBT stock in small increments over coming weeks. The stock is down a lot and could just rise with the overall market even it doesn't get bought. So, I see the risk/reward being nice here. Artificial intelligence is forecast to be one the fastest growing markets over coming years. With the likelyhood of significant innovation IRBT will no doubt be a great company going forward.