E-commerce Giant Rakuten to Purchase E-Book Retailer Kobo

Japanese firm Rakuten has purchased Kobo for $315 million in a move that will inevitably favor the Canadian company. Rakuten has one of the largest e-commerce platforms that will give Kobo access to new markets. Kobo's CEO Michael Serbinis added that "This transaction will greatly strengthen our position in our current markets and allow us to diversify quickly into other countries and e-commerce categories."

Kobo’s 2.5 million e-books are available on Kobo e-readers (Kobo Touch and Kobo Wi-Fi) and other tablets including Samsung Galaxy Tab and BlackBerry PlayBook . Not much will change in Kobo’s operations as they will continue to function as a standalone operation based in Toronto.