AUSTIN, Texas – June 29, 2010 – LibreDigital, Inc., a leading provider of digital marketing and distribution technology for publishers, today announced that it has acquired the Symtio eCommerce platform from Zondervan, a HarperCollins company.
Launched as a division of Zondervan in 2008, Symtio is a multi-channel digital media platform that enables customers to purchase and access digital media — including eBooks, audiobooks, music, and video — online or through an in-store retail card program. As part of the acquisition, LibreDigital is adding the Symtio eCommerce technology, existing eCommerce contracts and applications, and key eCommerce staff. LibreDigital is not acquiring Symtio’s retail card business, which Zondervan is in negotiations to sell separately. Financial terms of the deal are not being disclosed.
“Publishers are seeing exponential demand for digital media from consumers,” said Russell P. Reeder, President and CEO of LibreDigital, Inc. “The technology developed by the team at Symtio will be used to expand our platform to power new cross-publisher marketplaces as well as social commerce and white-label solutions for individual publishers that will help meet that demand.”
For the past ten years, LibreDigital has helped publishers power the marketing and delivery of millions of eBooks to digital devices and marketplaces. With its acquisition of Symtio, the company will offer a complete end-to-end solution for publishers looking to accelerate their sales of eBooks and digital content. LibreDigital will now also be able to provide marketplace services to other partners looking to add a cross-publisher bookstore to their online community.
“I’m extremely happy that LibreDigital is acquiring the Symtio eCommerce platform. The combined capabilities and services will best serve publishers’ digital needs today and in the future,” said Brian Murray, President and CEO of HarperCollins Publishers. “LibreDigital is well-positioned to become the de facto standard for publishers seeking to increase sales across new and existing digital marketplaces.”
About LibreDigital
LibreDigital develops technology that connects publishers, marketplaces, and consumers when and where they choose to read. LibreDigital solutions enable promotion, sales, and delivery of content on-demand across the web or to any marketplace or device -– including the Apple iPad and iBookstore, Google, Amazon Kindle, Barnes & Noble NOOK, Sony Reader, the Blio eReader, and many more.
LibreDigital has served billions of page views to millions of readers worldwide. The company’s customers and partners are the world’s top publishers, retailers, and device manufacturers, including Apple, Barnes & Noble, Baker & Taylor, Hachette Book Group, HarperCollins, Kaplan, Simon & Schuster, Scholastic, and Sony. Backed by Adams Capital Management, Triangle Peak Partners, S3 Ventures, Noro-Moseley Partners, and HarperCollins Publishers, LibreDigital is based in Austin, Texas, with offices in New York and London.
About HarperCollins Publishers
HarperCollins, one of the largest English-language publishers in the world, is a subsidiary of News Corporation (NYSE: NWS, NWS.A; ASX: NWS, NWSLV). Headquartered in New York, HarperCollins has publishing groups around the world, including the HarperCollins General Books Group, HarperCollins Children’s Books Group, Zondervan, HarperCollins UK, HarperCollins Canada, HarperCollins Australia/New Zealand, and HarperCollins India. HarperCollins is a broad-based publisher with strengths in literary and commercial fiction, business books, children’s books, cookbooks, mystery, romance, reference, religious, and spiritual books. With nearly 200 years of history, HarperCollins has published some of the world’s foremost authors and has won numerous awards including the Nobel Prize, the Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award, the Newbery Medal, and the Caldecott. Consistently at the forefront of innovation and technological advancement, HarperCollins is the first publisher to digitize its content and create a global digital warehouse to protect the rights of its authors, meet consumer demand, and generate additional business opportunities. You can visit HarperCollins Publishers on the Internet at www.harpercollins.com.
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LibreDigital is a trademark of LibreDigital, Inc. All other company and product names mentioned are used only for identification and may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies.
Media Contact:
Heidi Johnson
For LibreDigital
heidi.johnson@virtualprdirector.com
(512) 493-0909