Japanese web retailer Rakuten acquires Toronto's Kobo for $315 million in cash

Posted by Knowlton Thomas

Rakuten, a web retailer based in Japan, has acquired Canadian-made Kobo, a competitor of Amazon and others in the ereader and ebook space.

Rakuten bought 100% of the shares for a total of $315 million in cash. 58% of Kobo was owned by Indigo Books and Music, which can certainly use the cash in these dire times for brick and mortar book businesses. But how much of Kobo's staff and assets will remain in Canada?

Rakuten CEO Hiroshi Mikitani called the company "entrepreneurial, fast, and strong" and the two companies have a "shared vision."

Kobo just recently launched its Vox tablet and made plans to launch an ebook publishing platform for authors.

Company:
Kobo, Inc.
Website:
http://www.kobobooks.com/
Location:
Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Kobo is a global eReading service backed by majority shareholder Indigo Books & Music, Borders Group, REDgroup Retail, and Cheung Kong Holdings. Kobo believes consumers should be able to read any book on any device. With a catalog of over two million eBooks, and an open platform, Kobo enables retailers, device manufacturers and mobile operators to bring the joy of eReading to customers everywhere. For more... more

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Knowlton Thomas

Knowlton Thomas

Knowlton is the managing editor of Techvibes. Based in Vancouver, Knowlton has been published in national publications and has also appeared on television and radio. Previously he was an editor for New Westminster weekly The Other Press and served on its board of directors. When not working, Knowlton enjoys playing tennis or otherwise enjoying the outdoors. more

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