Roomba maker goes bankrupt, Chinese owner emerges

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 common stock of the company, founded in 1990 by engineers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, will be wiped out under the proposed Chapter 11 plan filed in Delaware on Sunday.

iRobot enjoyed initial success with ...