Tesco buys Andy McNab's e-book retailer Mobcast
Tesco has bought the digital book retailer Mobcast which was co-founded by the Bravo Two Zero author Andy McNab in a deal understood to be worth £4.5m.
Mobcast was launched in 2007 and offers a catalogue of more than 130,000 books which can be read on smartphones, tablets and e-readers. Its cloud-based service means customers are not tied to one single device such as the Kindle or the iPad.
Michael Comish, CEO of Tesco Digital Entertainment, said: "We are already one of the UK’s largest booksellers and Mobcast will help us offer even more choice for the large and growing number of customers who want to buy and enjoy books on their digital devices whenever and wherever they want.”
The purchase marks Tesco's latest foray into the digital arena having acquired movie and TV streaming service blinkbox in 2011 and personalised internet radio service WE7 in June 2012.
McNab, who started the company with its CEO Tony Lynch, said: "As an author I always thought the ability to carry your library around and read on all your personal devices would be a huge benefit to all. We have developed a product that makes this possible, and being acquired by Tesco ensures that this original vision will be available to as many people as possible.”