Amazon has acquired AbeBooks for an undisclosed amount, reports The Bookseller. Russell Grandinetti, vice president of books for Amazon.com, is quoted in an Amazon press release announcing the deal:
As a leader in rare and hard-to-find books, AbeBooks brings added breadth and expanded selection to our customers worldwide … AbeBooks provides a wide range of services to both sellers and customers, and we look forward to working with them to further grow their business.
Update: Peter Brantley notes via his Read 20 list that Amazon’s acquisition of AbeBooks will also make it a minority investor in LibraryThing. From the LibraryThing blog:
AbeBooks owns a minority stake in LibraryThing. This means that,
after regulatory approval and finalization, Amazon will become, through AbeBooks, a minority investor in LibraryThing.
Amazon has also invested in Shelfari, one of LibraryThing’s competitors.