Best Buy has today announced that they will acquire Napster Inc. for $121 million in attempts to promote growth in the digital entertainment industry.
The transaction, which values Napster at $2.65 per share, has been approved by Napster’s board and is expected to close in the fourth quarter of this year. Included in the deal will be Napster’s approximately 700,000 subscribers, it’s web-based customer service platform, and mobile capabilities.
“This transaction offers Best Buy a recognized platform for enhancing our capabilities in the digital media space and building new, recurring relationships with customers,” said Brian Dunn, President and COO of Best Buy. “Over time we hope to strengthen our offerings to consumers, who we believe will increasingly seek devices and solutions that enable them to access their content wherever, whenever and however they want.”
The acquisition will retain the services of Napster CEO, Chris Gorog, and members of the senior management team to manage the company following the deal. Additionally, no other layoffs of the company’s 140 employees have been mentioned.
Executive Vice President of Connected Digital Solutions of Best Buy, Dave Morrish adds, “We can foresee Napster acting as a platform for accelerating our growth in the emerging industry of digital entertainment, beyond music subscriptions. We’re very excited to add these capabilities to leverage our existing relationships with the labels, the studios, and the hardware providers.”
[via 9to5]
