Monday, September 8, 2008

IRobot buys underwater robot firm Nekton for $10M

Roomba-maker iRobot Corp. has acquired underwater robot maker Nekton Research LLC for $10 million in cash. Bedford-based iRobot (Nasdaq: IRBT) said it plans to commercialize Raleigh-Durham, N.C.-based Nekton’s Ranger, a general development platform for search, survey or payload delivery.

An updated Ranger may be on sale as soon as late 2009, iRobot said. Nekton CEO Rick Vosburgh will become iRobot’s executive director for Maritime Systems, working out of Raleigh-Durham. Nekton’s customers include the Office of Naval Research, the Naval Undersea Warfare Command, the Naval Air Systems Command  and the U.S. Special Operations Command.

The company expects the deal to close by the end of the week. Depending on the achievement of certain business and financial milestones, IRobot may pay up to an additional $5 million for Nekton, iRobot said. In June, iRobot licensed autonomous underwater vehicle technology from the University of Washington. iRobot said that robot, the Seaglider, would be complementary to the Nekton Ranger.

Last week was a busy one for iRobot. The company released new versions of its Roomba vacuum-cleaner robots for pet owners and small-business owners. Earlier last week, iRobot announced co-founder and chief technology officer Rodney Brooks had stepped down from the company. Brooks will start a new company called Heartland Robotics, which iRobot said would not be a competitor. Also on Tuesday, iRobot landed a contract worth up to $200 million to supply the U.S. Army with military robots, such as its PackBot, spare parts, training and repair services over the next five years.

Bedford-based iRobot reported a 2007 net income of $9.1 million on revenue of $249.1 million.