Los Angeles resident Ruth Horne, 76, enticed by a bargain, bought what she thought was a Roomba to vacuum her house, but the experience ended in frustration. "It kept getting stuck somewhere and would then just go around in circles," Horne said. "I'm pretty low tech, but it just seemed like a good idea — cleaner house, less work," Lewis said. And cheap Chinese competition was not the only factor in its failure. An attempted 2022 acquisition of iRobot by Amazon, thwarted by regulators, and the changing dynamics around mergers and acquisitions, represent an ongoing concern for struggling tech companies that in the past have turned to M&A as not just an exit ramp, but savior. The company, which Amazon agreed to pay $1.7 billion to acquire in August 2022, reported in a court filing last Sunday that it had between $100 million-$500 million in assets and liabilities, and owed roughly $100 million to its largest creditor, Shenzhen Picea Robotics Co., the contract manufacturer, located in China and Vietnam, which now owns it. "Today's outcome is profoundly disappointing — and it was avoidable," Colin Angle, co-founder and CEO of iRobot, told CNBC in a statement earlier this week. "This is nothing short of a tragedy for consumers, the robotics industry and America's innovation economy." In early 2024, Amazon CEO Andy Jassy told CNBC that regulators' efforts to block the deal were a "sad story" and said it would've given iRobot a competitive boost against rivals. "The iRobot case demonstrates that when regulators prioritize hypothetical future harms over present-day financial realities, they don't protect competition; they destroy the target company," said Kristina Minnick is a professor of finance at Bentley University. She added that by blocking Amazon's white knight acquisition of iRobot, regulators removed the only viable exit ramp for a struggling American robotics pioneer. "The tragic irony is that instead of remaining an independent competitor, iRobot was forced into bankruptcy and is now being sold to one of its Chinese manufacturing partners. "Roomba didn't just run out of battery, it got shoved into Chapter 11 after European regulators kicked out Amazon's $1.4 billion escape hatch and left it bleeding cash on the living-room floor," said Eric Schiffer, chairman at Reputation Management Consultants. "Amazon walked, tariffs hit, cheap rivals swarmed, and suddenly the king of robo-vacs is begging its own manufacturer to save its plastic rear end," Schiffer said. "This is a cautionary tale that if your business model is to get bought by Big Tech, one hostile regulator in Europe can turn your dream exit into a Caligula-level catastrophic implosion." Jay Jung, managing partner at Embarc Advisors, a San Francisco-based corporate finance advisory firm, says that iRobot's bankruptcy is ominous for future similar deals if regulators don't learn the lessons of the past few years. "European regulators are within their rights to block these deals," he said. But he added that "their stance is too tilted towards anti-big tech. When a Chinese company like this takes over, they will preserve the brand but everything moves to China — lost jobs, and any other economic benefit other than the brand is gone." At least publicly, the Trump administration's Federal Trade Commission seems to be taking a more hands-off approach to M&A than its Biden era predecessors led by FTC Chair Lina Khan, who had a hawkish antitrust stance. It has vowed to take a dual approach on mergers: vigorously pursue ones deemed anti-competitive and stand out of the way one of ones that don't meet that criteria. And if we don't, I'm going to get the hell out of the way," FTC Chair Andrew Ferguson told CNBC's Squawk Box earlier this year. But in Europe, the view towards tech M&A remains tilted to scrutiny. EU antitrust chief Teresa Ribera telegraphed that there could be more to come in comments earlier this month when announcing an anti-trust probe against Meta's plans to block AI rivals from Whatsapp, which it owns. As a direct result of these blocked exit ramps, the tech giants are now attempting to circumvent regulators through asset purchases rather than full company acquisitions. "In deals like Microsoft's arrangement with Inflection AI or Amazon's deal with Adept, the acquirer hires the target's founders and key engineering talent while licensing their intellectual property, leaving the corporate shell behind," Minnick said, adding that this "reverse acqui-hire" structure is designed specifically as a loophole to bypass antitrust review. "While this allows the technology to survive, it is a sub-optimal outcome that often leaves regular shareholders and non-essential employees stranded in a hollowed-out zombie company, proving that regulatory friction is forcing the market into increasingly complex and inefficient contortions to survive," she said. Minnick believes that if things don't change, we are likely to see more of these zombie scenarios, where struggling tech and media companies find their exit ramps blocked by regulators overseas or at home. "The refusal to allow organic consolidation means that instead of orderly acquisitions that preserve jobs and innovation, we may see more disorderly bankruptcies," Minnick said. "If potential acquirers are genuinely concerned about overpaying or regulatory hurdles, they will choose not to engage. Roomba did face more than just M&A headwinds, including financial problems accelerated by the Trump administration's trade policy. Ragini Bhalla, head of brand at Creditsafe, has been watching iRobot's deteriorating finances for a while. The company began paying vendors three to four weeks late beginning in May, Bhalla said, and that volatility in paying vendors and suppliers is usually an early warning sign of emerging liquidity pressure. She also said that iRobot's credit score steadily dropped over a period of five months until it was rated "Very High Risk" in June 2025, where it stayed until the bankruptcy filing. Bhalla also noted that revenue declined amid intensifying competition from lower-priced Chinese rivals and that tariffs emerged as a direct and material accelerant. "Most Roombas are manufactured in Vietnam, exposing iRobot to new U.S. import levies that added millions in costs and disrupted forward planning," Bhalla said. Ultimately, the combination of elevated debt, eroding demand, and tariff-driven cost pressure pushed iRobot into a manufacturer-led buyout through bankruptcy. "This illustrates how trade policy shocks can quickly turn underlying operational stress into a solvency event for hardware-dependent businesses," Bhalla said. There is no going back from an antitrust regime that has gone global, according to Schiffer, and Roomba may merely be the most high-profile casualty of 2025. "Your suitor can live in Seattle, your stock on Nasdaq, and some wacky commission in Brussels holds the shotgun to your wedding," Schiffer said, adding that for founders, "Roomba is the billboard warning that if you rely on one mega-deal to save you, you're not running a strategy, you're rehearsing for disaster. Sign up for free newsletters and get more CNBC delivered to your inbox

The company operates through four segments: wholesale-North America, Europe, specialty, and self service. Activist Commentary: Ananym Capital Management is a New York-based activist investment firm which launched on Sept. 3, 2024, and is run by Charlie Penner (a former partner at JANA Partners and head of shareholder activism at Engine No. Ananym looks for high quality but undervalued companies, regardless of industry. They would prefer to work amicably with their portfolio companies but are willing to launch a proxy fight as a last resort. According to their most recent 13F filing, they manage $260 million across 10 positions. LKQ is a leading distributor of aftermarket vehicle parts. Although the European business is slightly larger by revenue, the North American business has significantly higher margins and a much larger market share compared with its peers. Originally just a U.S. aftermarket parts business, the company began aggressively pursuing acquisitions in Europe starting in 2011, shifting from a focus on recycled parts consolidation to building and integrating a European footprint. Moreover, these two businesses are not nearly as similar as they sound, in North America they do primarily aftermarket collision parts like mirrors and bumpers and in Europe, it's primarily mechanical suspension and things under the hood. In September 2019, when the stock was trading at $27 per share, ValueAct Capital engaged the company and settled for a board seat for one of its partners. Through this campaign, ValueAct was able to usher in a new wave of operational discipline, where instead of focusing on European M&A, LKQ paused large acquisitions and shifted its focus to growing the company's free cash flow and executing buybacks at an attractive discount. The results of this campaign speak for themselves, as LKQ's share price rose to over $60 during ValueAct's campaign, giving them an 86.39% return on their investment versus 16.15% for the Russell 2000. However, following ValueAct's exit, LKQ returned to its old ways, shifting their focus back to M&A, and the stock had subsequently declined more than 25% by February 2025, when two new activists entered the stock. Now with the stock just slightly higher than it was in 2019 when ValueAct engaged, a third activist has entered to take over where ValueAct had left off, calling on LKQ to divest its European operations and refocus on its North American business. LKQ has always been a company that has benefited from simplification and harmed by complexity – and Ananym's plan seems to align with this approach: (i) halt major M&A, (i) divest the European business and other non-core assets, and (iii) use the proceeds to fund buybacks and reinvest in organic growth in the core NA segment. Operationally, there are several benefits to Ananym's plan. While the U.S. functions as a single market with consistent regulations, Europe is a series of nation states each with their own regulatory framework, making integration far more complex. This creates meaningful execution risks, exemplified by the company still needing to integrate more than 20 ERP systems in 18 different countries. Not only would divesting Europe leave the company with a higher margin business with a much larger relative market share, but it would also allow management to devote all their time and resources to North America. The alternative is to continue to focus a disproportionate amount of time on integrating all the European acquisitions across the different European countries all from their headquarters in Chicago and Nashville. The opportunity here is also clear from a valuation perspective. Industrial distribution peers typically trade at mid-teens or higher EBITDA multiples, while LKQ currently trades at 7.3x forward EBITDA. Not only is this a discount to the market, but to its historical levels, as even in its messy conglomerate form, LKQ has still traded on a 10-year historical average of 10x EBITDA. The European business could potentially be sold at an 8 to 9x multiple, but a sale even at the company's current multiple would be beneficial to unlocking value in the North American business, which could re-rate to its historical multiple of 10x EBITDA. The proceeds from such a sale could enable LKQ to repurchase up to 40% of its outstanding shares, which, when combined with the re-rating of NA, could easily translate to more than 60% upside from the company's current share price. While strategics with similar models, such as O'Reilly, AutoZone, and Genuine Parts, may find the European business appealing, strategics generally prefer clean businesses and this is far from that. Private equity, on the other hand, feasts on these types of projects, using their operational and restructuring expertise and flexibility of being out of the public eye to unlock these complex assets overtime in a way that is more difficult for public companies to address. Under his short leadership, the company has already taken steps in the right direction — announcing plans to repurchase 14% of outstanding shares and divesting non-core assets such as its self-service salvage business that was sold in August to private equity. It has also signaled that its specialty business is on the market and it's expected to be sold in the near term. Persuading him to divest Europe may take a little more time. If we learned anything from the previous activist campaigns at LKQ, this company needs a financially astute shareholder representative, not an independent industry executive. They do not need someone to help them with operations, they need someone to help them financially model, evaluate and potentially execute strategic options and work with the board to arrive at what is best for shareholders. Given Ananym's reputation as an amicable activist and their constructive relationship with Jude thus far, we think this is a perfect opportunity to put an Ananym representative on the board like Alex Silver who has extensive financial and private equity experience and brings a team of analysts ready to model available opportunities. Ken Squire is the founder and president of 13D Monitor, an institutional research service on shareholder activism, and the founder and portfolio manager of the 13D Activist Fund, a mutual fund that invests in a portfolio of activist investments. Sign up for free newsletters and get more CNBC delivered to your inbox

U.S. negotiators are set to meet Russian officials in Florida on Saturday for the latest talks aimed at ending Russia's war in Ukraine, as President Donald Trump's administration tries to coax an agreement out of both Russia and Ukraine to end the conflict. The meeting follows U.S. talks on Friday with Ukrainian and European officials, the latest discussions of a peace plan that has sparked some hope of a resolution to the conflict that began when Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022. President Vladimir Putin's envoy, Kirill Dmitriev, is leading the Russian delegation that will meet with property tycoon-turned-diplomat Steve Witkoff and Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner. Marco Rubio, Trump's top diplomat and national security advisor, said he may also join the talks. Previous meetings have taken place at Witkoff's golf club in Miami's Hallandale Beach. U.S., Ukrainian and European officials earlier this week reported progress on security guarantees for Kyiv as part of the talks to end the war, but it remains unclear if those terms will be acceptable to Moscow. A Russian source told Reuters that any meeting between Dmitriev and the Ukrainian negotiators had been ruled out. U.S. intelligence reports continue to warn that Russian President Vladimir Putin intends to capture all of Ukraine, sources familiar with the intelligence said, contradicting some U.S. officials' assertions that Moscow is ready for peace. Putin offered no compromise during his annual press conference in Moscow, insisting that Russia's terms for ending the war had not changed since June 2024, when he demanded Ukraine abandon its ambition to join NATO and withdraw entirely from four Ukrainian regions Russia claims as its own territory. Kyiv says it will not cede land that Moscow's forces have failed to capture in nearly four years of war. Ukraine's top negotiator Rustem Umerov said U.S. and European teams on Friday held talks and agreed to pursue their joint efforts. "We agreed with our American partners on further steps and on continuing our joint work in the near future," Umerov wrote on Telegram of the discussions in the United States, adding that he had informed President Volodymyr Zelenskiy of the outcome of the talks. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Rubio told reporters earlier on Friday that progress has been made in discussions to end the war but there is still a way to go. We can't force Ukraine to make a deal. We can't force Russia to make a deal. "The role we're trying to play is a role of figuring out whether there's any overlap here that they can agree to, and that's what we've invested a lot of time and energy and continue to do so. "The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Rubio told reporters earlier on Friday that progress has been made in discussions to end the war but there is still a way to go. We can't force Ukraine to make a deal. We can't force Russia to make a deal. "The role we're trying to play is a role of figuring out whether there's any overlap here that they can agree to, and that's what we've invested a lot of time and energy and continue to do so. I hope it can get done this month before the end of the year." We want to hear from you. Sign up for free newsletters and get more CNBC delivered to your inbox

The U.S. military launched large-scale strikes against dozens of Islamic State targets in Syria on Friday in retaliation for an attack on American personnel, U.S. officials said. A U.S.-led coalition has been carrying out airstrikes and ground operations in Syria targeting Islamic State suspects in recent months, often with the involvement of Syria's security forces. President Donald Trump had vowed to retaliate after a suspected ISIS attack killed U.S. personnel last weekend in Syria. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the strikes targeted "ISIS fighters, infrastructure, and weapons sites" and that the operation was "OPERATION HAWKEYE STRIKE." "This is not the beginning of a war — it is a declaration of vengeance," Hegseth said. And we will continue," he added. At a speech in North Carolina on Friday night, Trump called it a "massive" blow against the ISIS members that the U.S. blames for the Dec. 13 attack on coalition forces. "We hit the ISIS thugs in Syria. … It was very successful," Trump said at a rally in Rocky Mount, North Carolina. U.S. Central Command said the strikes hit more than 70 targets across central Syria, adding that Jordanian fighter jets supported the operation. One U.S. official said the strikes were carried out by U.S. F-15 and A-10 jets, along with Apache helicopters and HIMARS rocket systems. Syria reiterated its steadfast commitment to fighting Islamic State and ensuring that it has "no safe havens on Syrian territory," according to a statement by the foreign ministry. Two U.S. Army soldiers and a civilian interpreter were killed on Saturday in the central Syrian town of Palmyra by an attacker who targeted a convoy of American and Syrian forces before being shot dead, according to the U.S. military. Three other U.S. soldiers were also wounded in the attack. Syria's government is led by former rebels who toppled leader Bashar al-Assad last year after a 13-year civil war, and includes members of Syria's former Al Qaeda branch who broke with the group and clashed with Islamic State. Syria has been cooperating with a U.S.-led coalition against Islamic State, reaching an agreement last month when President Ahmed al-Sharaa visited the White House. We want to hear from you. Sign up for free newsletters and get more CNBC delivered to your inbox

Workers who moved out of London for remote work are under pressure to come back to the office in the city, and some are choosing to stay in Japanese-inspired sleeping pods for just £30 ($40). I travelled to Piccadilly Circus in the heart of London to spend a night in a newly opened capsule hotel, after two of my colleagues who live outside the city recommended staying there. Zedwell Capsule Hotel, a brand owned by Criterion Capital, opened in September and offers nearly 1,000 capsules measuring 1 meter long, 1 meter wide, and 2 meters in depth — likely the smallest hotel rooms in London. It has a rather unassuming exterior despite being located inside the historic London Pavilion building — originally built as a music hall in 1885. The cost of staying in a hotel in Central London is staggering, sitting at an average of £265 per night in the third quarter of 2025, according to real estate firm Knight Frank. In comparison, the average daily rate of hotels across Europe was 125 euros in the summer, according to an analysis of over 600,000 reservations from 2,000 independent hotels by RoomRaccoon. Criterion's Head of Hotels Halima Aziz told me that the capsule hotel addresses a gap in the market between budget hostels and affordable accommodation. "When we decided to get into capsules, we really took inspiration from Asia, and the capsule concept was really born out of Japan as a response to very similar pressures we're facing in London." In Japan, the first capsule hotel was built in the city of Osaka in 1979, primarily to serve as an inexpensive overnight option for salarymen who worked late and preferred to stay out drinking and socializing rather than spending more money commuting home. It's given rise to some capsule-style hotels in New York, from sleeping pods by Kama Central Park, to Nap York, a sleeping station with private pods for short naps or overnight stays. It's a Monday evening, and instead of my usual work-from-home routine, which involves preparing to go into the office the next day, I'm crawling into a brightly lit sleeping pod. My head is just inches beneath the ceiling of my pod, which has a light dimmer, two clothing hooks, an air purifier, a wide mirror stretching along the head of the capsule, and charger sockets. It feels eerie, but with nothing to distract me, I fall asleep quickly. My capsule was one of seven stacked side by side or on top of each other, and some were only accessible via steps. I learned that despite the low initial cost, there was a series of additional amenities guests can pay for, from an extra £10 to be in a female-only dormitory, to £8 for a padlock, and £15 to store luggage securely. That's because it is "still under construction," Zedwell's General Manager Greg Walsh told me. The drilling sounds were coming from underground where a larger reception was being built, with direct links to Piccadilly Circus Station. CEO Aziz confirmed that the building is not complete, adding that the additional cost for the female dorms was largely due to upgraded amenities, including a towel inside the pod and a female-only beauty room complete with hairdryers — although this is still under construction and not currently accessible. "Ultimately, if you're not just targeting the traditional hostel market, and you want to widen access, you need to respond to people's needs, and people have needs for laundry, for beauty, that wouldn't typically be considered," she added. While exploring the building, I found shared toilets and showers with classical music playing inside, as well as vending machines in the reception with snacks, drinks, slippers and eye masks amongst other items. I wandered out for dinner and with Oxford Circus, Leicester Square, and Covent Garden within walking distance, it wasn't hard to entertain myself. One chef from Newcastle even told me he paid a total of £284 to stay in the hotel for a fortnight to work in London. During the Covid-19 pandemic, many office workers in London moved out of the city, where it was cheaper to rent or own a home, due to remote and flexible working options becoming a normality. A 2021 report from City Hall said it was likely that London's population fell during the pandemic. The trend persisted, and by 2022, 43% of commuters lived over 30 minutes away from their workplace in the U.K., reflecting higher property prices in central areas, according to a report by commercial real estate firm CBRE which surveyed over 20,000 people globally. Zedwell's Aziz said one of the hotel's core demographics is young professionals and hybrid workers who are using Zedwell as a "base in the city" due to their flexible working patterns which require them to be in the office for a few days a week. Roughly 20% of the hotel's customers are corporate workers, Aziz said. "The cost of commuting from Oxford, Cambridge, city centers that aren't accessible via the London Underground system, is quite high," she said. "Our product is often cheaper than their commute or late-night travel home." "Where they wouldn't traditionally consider a hostel product, we identified that they would indeed consider a capsule hotel, because it gave that privacy," Aziz added. After a quick shower, I got ready inside my capsule before heading out and joining the throng of commuters in central London. Learn more about the world of CNBC Make It