Amazon.com Inc. has reached an agreement to acquire Audible Inc., an online retailer of digital spoken word audio content, including books, newspapers and magazines, television and radio programs, and original programming. Amazon puts the deal’s value at about $300 million.
Under terms of the agreement, Amazon.com, No. 1 in the Internet Retailer Top 500 Guide, will undertake a cash tender offer to purchase all outstanding shares of Audible.com for $11.50 per share, and will assume Audible.com’s outstanding stock-based awards. The transaction is valued at approximately $300 million, which includes Audible.com’s cash and short-term investments at closing.
“Audible.com offers the best customer experience, the widest content selection and the broadest device compatibility in the industry,” says 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.”
Through its web sites in the U.S. and the United Kingdom, and alliances in Germany and France, Audible.com offers more than 80,000 programs. Audible has approximately 160 employees with headquarters in Newark, NJ, and an office in London with 15 employees.
The acquisition is expected to close by the second quarter of 2008.
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