Amazon.com to Acquire AbeBooks

[mandy]

-Amazon.com, Inc., today announced that, subject to closing conditions, it has reached an agreement to acquire AbeBooks. AbeBooks is an online marketplace for books, with over 110 million primarily used, rare and out-of-print books listed for sale by thousands of independent booksellers from around the world.

"As a leader in rare and hard-to-find books, AbeBooks brings added breadth and expanded selection to our customers worldwide," said Russell Grandinetti, vice president of books for Amazon.com. "AbeBooks provides a wide range of services to both sellers and customers, and we look forward to working with them to further grow their business. We're excited to present all of our customers with the widest selection of books available any place on Earth."

"This deal brings together book sellers and book lovers from around the world, and offers both types of customers a great experience," said Hannes Blum, chief executive officer of AbeBooks. "We are very excited to be joining the Amazon family."

The acquisition is subject to customary closing conditions, including regulatory approvals, and is expected to close before the end of the fourth quarter of 2008.

AbeBooks will continue to function as a stand-alone operation based in Victoria, British Columbia. AbeBooks will maintain all of its websites, including its Canadian website with Canada-specific content, such as reviews of Canadian-authored books and interviews of Canadian writers.

About AbeBooks

AbeBooks is an online marketplace for books, with over 110 million primarily used, rare and out-of-print books listed for sale by thousands of independent booksellers from around the world. AbeBooks has millions of customers who purchase tens of thousands of books a day from its global websites (Abebooks.com, Abebooks.ca, Abebooks.co.uk, Abebooks.de, Abebooks.fr, Abebooks.it and Iberlibro.com). A true internet success story, AbeBooks.com has been selling books online since 1996, and is a private company based in Victoria, BC, Canada, with affiliates in Germany and the United States. Internet Retailer magazine ranked AbeBooks at No. 73 among North American online retailers in June 2008.

full press release: http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=176060&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=1182552&highlight=

Why did Amazon.com acquire AbeBooks?

AbeBooks has a longstanding history since 1996 as a leader in the online marketplace. The AbeBooks.com marketplace features many of the world’s finest rare and antiquarian booksellers and there are countless unique books offered for sale on the sites. Working with AbeBooks will enable Amazon to offer customers even more books to choose from and enhance the world class services it provides to the seller community.

Where does AbeBooks fall within the Amazon.com business structure?

AbeBooks will be a subsidiary of Amazon.com.

Will the AbeBooks web sites remain live and intact?

Yes.

Will AbeBooks be integrated into Amazon.com?

AbeBooks will remain a standalone brand and company that will be supported by Amazon’s resources and experience.

Will AbeBooks sellers be able to load their books onto Amazon’s Marketplace via AbeBooks?

AbeBooks sellers who also list on Amazon.com should continue to manage their business just as they do today. There are a lot of opportunities as a result of this acquisition, but it is too early to go into specifics.

Will AbeBooks direct traffic to Amazon or vice versa?

There are a lot of opportunities as a result of this acquisition, which we believe will greatly benefit Amazon.com and AbeBooks customers and sellers. It is too early to go into specifics.

full announcement: http://www.amazonsellercommunity.com/for...dID=157289&tstart=0

Discussion on the:
AbeBooks forums: http://forums.abebooks.com/n/mb/message....tag=abecom&msg=17889.1&ctx=0
Amazon forums: http://www.amazonsellercommunity.com/for...dID=157281&tstart=0