Amazon.com Acquires Audible’s Bookstore for $300 Million
On Thursday, Amazon.com said it inked a deal to acquire Audible, the leading online digital audio bookstore.
Amazon.com will purchase all of Audible’s outstanding shares for $11.50 per share and assume Audible.com’s outstanding stock-based awards. That values the deal at $300 million.
“Audible.com offers the best customer experience, the widest content selection and the broadest device compatibility in the industry,” said Steve Kessel, Amazon.com’s senior vice president for worldwide digital media. “Working together, we can introduce more innovations and bring this format to an even wider audience.”
Audible’s Audio Assets
Audible has made a name for itself in the digital world by peddling digital audio editions of books, newspapers and magazines, television and radio programs and original programming. Its Web site, Audible.com offers more than 80,000 programs, including audiobooks from well-known authors such as Stephen King, Thomas Friedman and Jane Austen.
The company also offers spoken-word audio content from sources including The New York Times, The New Yorker, Fresh Air and Charlie Rose. Audible is a major provider of spoken-word audio products for Apple’s iTunes Store. Content from Audible is downloaded and played on personal computers, CDs or AudibleReady computer-based and wireless mobile devices.
“Audible has done a good job. Audible has got some good licenses. The company is trusted by the publishers to avoid situations that would result in piracy of the content,” said Phil Leigh, a senior analyst at Inside Digital Media. “But the problem is Audible is a small part of what people have on their iPods. Most people really want music.”
The Kindle Factor
Amazon.com’s recently introduced Kindle, a wireless portable reader that provides instant wireless downloads of more than 90,000 books, blogs, magazines and newspapers to a high-resolution electronic display, could be the difference maker for Audible.
“Amazon already sells Audible content, but now Amazon can be more aggressive about integrating the…