Amazon to Acquire Audiobook Provider

Online retailer Amazon.com will acquire Audible, the leading online provider of premium digital spoken word audio content, for an estimated $300 million.

Audible specializes in digital audio editions of books, newspapers and magazines, television and radio programs and original programming. Through its Web sites in the United States and United Kingdom and alliances in Germany and France, Audible.com offers more than  80,000 programs, including audiobooks and spoken word audio content from sources including The New York Times and The New Yorker.

In recent months, Amazon has announced a number of innovations in the digital space, including Amazon Kindle, a wireless portable reader that provides instant wireless downloads of more than 90,000 books, blogs, magazines, and newspapers to a high-resolution electronic paper display.

The acquisition is subject to customary closing conditions, including regulatory approvals, and is expected to close by the second quarter of this year.