Amazon to buy Audible for $300 million

Online retailer Amazon.com Inc said it reached a deal to buy digital audio books provider Audible Inc for about $300 million, aiming to bolster its audio download offerings. Amazon has been building a digital music store to compete with Apple Inc's iTunes, and has signed deals with major music companies like Vivendi's Universal Music Group and Warner Music Group Corp.

One analyst speculated that Apple might want to counter-bid for Audible. "We have long suspected that Apple would be the party most interested in acquiring Audible considering the close ties between the two companies," Richard Fetyko, an analyst at Merriman Curhan Ford, said in a note to clients.

"Audible's audiobook content is sold within Apple's iTunes online music store, which represents about 25-30 per cent of Audible's revenue."Apple declined to comment on the Audible deal.

Audible's over 80,000 programmes, including audiobooks from authors such as Stephen King and Jane Austen, may complement Amazon's MP3 digital music store, which was launched last Sewptember and now includes more than 3.3 million songs.

Amazon has also been moving into the market for digital books with the introduction last year of Kindle, its portable wireless book reader.

"Audible was already the exclusive partner for Amazon's digital audio offering on Amazon.com. Audible will benefit from an immediate branding event and become integral to the very bright future of Amazon Kindle," said Stifel Nicolaus analyst Scott Devitt in a client note.