Combining Brands/Platforms: OverDrive to Acquire RBdigital Platform From RBmedia

Note: KKR, the new owner of OverDrive, has been the owner of RBmedia for about two years (July, 2018).

Note 2: RBmedia’s publishing brands including Recorded Books will remain under RBmedia.

From Today’s Announcement:

OverDrive announced today that it is acquiring the assets of RBmedia’s library business, including the RBdigital platform in North America, the United Kingdom and Australia.  

The acquisition of RBdigital will bring enhanced content and features to the OverDrive platform, enabling it to better serve the needs of libraries around the world, including access to new release Recorded Books audiobooks. Moreover, OverDrive will be exploring the addition of popular RBdigital services like digital magazines from ZINIO to the OverDrive platform.

As the owner of both RBmedia and OverDrive, KKR is uniquely positioned to facilitate this transaction and help bring libraries the best solutions possible.

“Combining the RBdigital library business with OverDrive’s industry-leading technologies will greatly benefit libraries and their readers worldwide,” said Steve Potash, founder and CEO of OverDrive. “We’re proud to enhance our value proposition for libraries by delighting readers with this new content on the award-winning Libby and Sora reading apps.”

There will be no change to RBmedia’s market-leading publishing businesses which will continue to supply their titles to libraries and direct-to-consumer services worldwide. These brands include Recorded Books, Tantor Media, HighBridge, Kalorama Audio, ChristianAudio, Gildan Media, GraphicAudio, W.F. Howes in the United Kingdom, and Wavesound in Australia.

The terms of the acquisition were not announced.

Filed under: Awards, Libraries, News, Publishing