Nova Labs, which founded Helium Network and promotes decentralized wireless infrastructure, announced Thursday it’s buying FreedomFi, which develops software for crowdsourced 5G networks (see 2206130047). It cited FreedomFi's "deep expertise in the development of open source tools for deployment and management of next-generation distributed mobile networks." The terms weren’t disclosed. FreedomFi is funded by Blueyard Capital, Qualcomm Ventures and Samsung Next.

Pixelworks agreed Monday to sell a 2.73% stake in its Shanghai semiconductor subsidiary for $471.5 million to a group of private equity investors based in China, said the video image processing company in an 8-K filing Thursday at the SEC. The transaction shows there's “significant interest” in the Pixelworks technology and “the growing market opportunity” for the Shanghai subsidiary, said Pixelworks CEO Todd DeBonis. Pixelworks will continue to own 80.87% of the subsidiary after the transaction closes in September, said the company. It didn’t respond to questions about who will own the remaining 16.4%.

Robotics are “an inevitable part of our human future -- and that’s a good thing!” blogged CTA President Gary Shapiro on LinkedIn Thursday in support of Amazon’s proposed $1.7 billion iRobot buy (see 2208050007). IRobot has been “incredibly important and successful as an American startup,” said Shapiro. “I don’t think it’s an overstatement to say that the company's innovations were foundational to growth in the now booming home robotic cleaning market.” But iRobot, like any small company, lacks “the resources or funding to rapidly take its products to the next level,” he said. Amid the FTC’s “aggressive approach” to antitrust action, “there are already media reports to suggest that the agency will file a case against Amazon in an attempt to block the acquisition,” said Shapiro. “That prospect alone could tank investment in the home cleaning market -- an area where American startups thrive.” In iRobot, “we should be cheering on a stellar example of American-led success,” he said.

Walmart is buying Volt Systems, a tech company that gives suppliers “enhanced on-demand visibility into merchandising resources,” said the retailer Friday. The Volt app is capable of rendering “current store-level data,” plus “shelf intelligence,” giving consumers “reduced friction due to out-of-stocks,” it said. Walmart is buying Volt “outright,” including the brand and its personnel, technology and customer agreements, it said. Terms weren’t disclosed.

Amazon agreed to buy iRobot for $61 a share, a 22% premium over iRobot's $49.99 closing stock price Thursday. The all-cash transaction is valued at $1.7 billion, including iRobot’s net debt, said the companies Friday. The deal is subject to customary closing conditions, including iRobot shareholder approval. Colin Angle will remain iRobot CEO after the transaction is complete, they said. Amazon highlighted iRobot products during Prime Day last month (see 2206160039). IRobot had a $63.9 million Q2 operating loss vs. a $3 million operating loss in Q2 2021, it said in its quarterly report Friday. Q2 revenue fell to $255.4 million from $365.6 million in the year-ago quarter on “unanticipated order reductions, delays and cancellations” from retailers in North America and Europe, the Middle East and Africa, and to lower-than-anticipated direct-to-consumer (DTC) sales and foreign exchange rate impact, the company said. Its e-commerce business -- including its own website and app, dedicated e-commerce websites and the online arms of traditional retailers -- declined by 35% year on year and comprised 62% of Q2 revenue. iRobot's $40 million DTC revenue was 12% below Q2 ’21, it said. The company is initiating a restructuring that’s expected to deliver net savings of $5 million-$10 million this year. It will cut 140 employees as part of the restructuring, representing 10% of the workforce.

Altice is having discussions about selling some or all its Suddenlink assets, CEO Dexter Goei told analysts Wednesday during a call as the company announced its Q2 results. He said due to the major Suddenlink upgrade planned for over the next year, it's "a good time" to look at a transaction before embarking on that spending. He said Altice's Optimum assets will be largely fiberized by 2024's end and it's not discussing any sale of those. He said Suddenlink's rebranding as Optimum announced this week (see 2208010002) had been in the works for close to nine months, always planned for early August.

Information Resources Inc. and NPD completed their April deal to form a combined technology, analytics and data provider specializing in retail purchasing and consumption trends (see 2204070039), said the companies Monday. Private equity firm Hellman & Friedman acquired majority ownership of IRI to combine it with NPD as an H&F portfolio company, they said. A unified name and brand will be announced later, said IRI and NPD.

Xperi said Thursday it bought Vewd Software, a global provider of over-the-top and hybrid TV software that ships in more than 30 million connected TV devices annually, for $109 million through a mixture of cash and stock. The Vewd buy speeds Xperi’s entry into the connected TV space and establishes the TiVo brand “as a leading independent streaming media platform,” said Xperi. The transaction also gives Xperi access to an installed European “footprint” of about 15 million devices “that can be enabled for monetization,” including through the activation of the TiVo+ free ad-supported TV service, it said. More than 450 million connected TV devices have shipped with embedded Vewd smart TV software, it said.

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg is attempting an “illegal acquisition” to expand his “virtual reality empire,” the FTC said Tuesday in a lawsuit seeking to block the company’s purchase of Within Unlimited and its virtual reality fitness app Supernatural. The commission recorded a 3-2 party line vote to authorize staff to seek a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction with the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. Meta’s “virtual reality empire includes the top-selling device, a leading app store, seven of the most successful developers, and one of the best-selling apps of all time,” the FTC said. The agency alleges Meta is attempting to acquire a “dedicated fitness app that proves the value of virtual reality to users.” The company is trying to buy its way to the top instead of competing on the merits, said FTC Competition Bureau Deputy Director John Newman. The case is “based on ideology and speculation, not evidence,” a Meta spokesperson said in a statement. “The idea that this acquisition would lead to anticompetitive outcomes in a dynamic space with as much entry and growth as online and connected fitness is simply not credible.” The commission’s party-line vote sends a “chilling message to anyone who wishes to innovate in VR. We are confident that our acquisition of Within will be good for people, developers and the VR space.” The FTC claims the deal violates Section 7 of the Clayton Act, which prohibits transactions that may “substantially” decrease competition, “or tend to create a monopoly,” or Section 5 of the FTC Act.

Amazon will buy One Medical, a provider of telehealth and physical in-office healthcare services, for $3.9 billion in an all-cash transaction, said the companies Thursday. “We think health care is high on the list of experiences that need reinvention,” said Amazon Health Services Senior Vice President Neil Lindsay. By combining with One Medical, “we believe we can and will help more people get better care,” he said. The One Medical buy should be “additive” to Amazon’s move into telehealth, Cowen’s John Blackledge wrote investors Thursday. One Medical’s telehealth sessions exceed its in-person visits by a 5-1 ratio, providing Amazon with more “scale in telehealth,” he said.