iRobot Files for Bankruptcy, Will Be Acquired by Chinese Supplier

iRobot Corp., the company that revolutionized robot vacuum cleaners in the early 2000s with its Roomba model, filed for bankruptcy and proposed handing over control to its main Chinese supplier.

The Massachusetts-based consumer robot maker, which is currently listed, will be taken over by China's Shenzhen PICEA Robotics Co. and a subsidiary of the Chinese firm, according to a press release.

The company listed between $100 million and $500 million of assets and liabilities in a filing.

The common stock of iRobot, founded in 1990 by engineers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, will be taken private.