Amazon.com Sees Greatness In Audible (AMZN, ADBL)

Audible Inc. (NASDAQ: ADBL) is finally being acquired.  Amazon.com (NASDAQ: AMZN) will pay some $11.50 per share of Audible in an all-cash buyout.  Including Audible's cash on hand, this transaction is valued at roughly $300 million. 

If any company needed to be acquired in the digital media for books, magazines, newspapers, radio, TV, and other content distribution, it was Audible.  The company has its Audible.com service in the U.S. that has been around since the late-1990's for subscriptions, and the service also offers sites specifically for the U.K., France, and Germany.

When you consider that Amazon.com is taking on Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) over iTunes and is launching its Kindle eBook reader, we wouldn't expect this to be the only small media company that Amazon.com (or others) look at, although not all the buyouts in the sector will be of public companies.

Jon C. Ogg
January 31, 2008