The struggling Napster digital music service has agreed to a $121 million takeover deal with Best Buy Inc. The all-cash deal which recently boosted Napster's shares to $2.65 will help Best Buy to strengthen its digital music business. At present, Napster has approximately 700,000 subscribers who pay a monthly fee to access unlimited music downloads.
Chris Gorog, chief executive and chairman of Napster, said, "We believe Best Buy will be an ideal partner for Napster and are very excited by the benefits that this transaction delivers to our shareholders, partners and employees."
If you are a Napster customer, you will be pleased to know that Best Buy won't be making any big changes in the short term, and Napster will be remaining in Los Angeles under the present team. In the longer term, Best Buy are looking to extend its online services to include videos, Photos, and video games.
The deal is expected to be completed by the end of the year.
Comments
NAPSTER SERVICE IS SOOO DISHONEST!!. I went on naptster to purchase a few songs and they used my credit card info to sign me up for a “free trial” which I didn’t know I was signed up for until 3 months later! – I told them that I didn’t want the membership and to refund me but they wouldn’t do it . Extremely dishonest people.