Bertelsmann Acquire Bokus.com

Media giant Bertelsmann has acquired leading online bookstore Bokus.com from Swedish media company KF Media AB.

Bertelsmann acquires 50 percent of the biggest online bookseller Bokus.com, which was originally created by Boo.com founders Kajsa Leander and Ernst Malmsten. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

For several days, speculative reports swirled that Amazon.com was going to pick up Bokus.com; however, in the end the site was snatched by Bertelsmann.

Amazon and Bertelsmann are competing head to head in many European markets. Bertelsmann operates in the region through the BOL.com network, which is represented in U.K., Germany, Netherlands, France, Spain, Switzerland, Italy and the Nordic countries.

Bokus.com operates in Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Finland with estimated annual sales of approximately SEK200 million (US$23 million). Bokus will become a part of the BOL.com
network and will become BOL Nordic. Jerker Nilsson from Bokus will stay on board as the president of BOL Nordic.

KF Media AB is the media extension of the Swedish consumer cooperative. The publisher own the leading book chain Akademibokhandeln and several other publishing companies.