Best Buy nabs Napster


Beleaguered Napster (NYSE: NAPS) shareholders got a nice surprise today. That is, Best Buy (NYSE: BBY) agreed to buy the online-music operator for $2.65 per share. On the news, the stock price surged 86%. Although, it's still a relatively small deal – amounting to about $121 million.

Something else: Napster already has about $67 million in the bank.

All in all, it looks like a good move for Best Buy. After all, the music CD market is evaporating.

For the most part, Napster has about 700,000 subscribers (there is a monthly fee), which should get a nice boost from the huge distribution of Best Buy. In fact, the platform could eventually allow for other digital offerings, such as videos.

Of course, there is tremendous competition in the space, such as from Amazon.com (NASDAQ: AMZN) and Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL). However, Best Buy can certainly find creative ways to bundle products and services -- making things compelling for its customers.

Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including The Complete M&A Handbook and The Edgar Online Guide to Decoding Financial Statements. He is also the founder of BizEquity, a valuation website

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Last updated: February 12, 2012: 09:23 PM

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