Earlier this week KKR issued a press release announcing that have agreed to purchase Overdrive from Rakuten.
Overdrive is the leading platform for distributing ebooks to public libraries and schools worldwide serving over 43,000 libraries and schools in more than 75 countries.
The details of the sale haven’t been disclosed yet, but it certainly raises a lot of interesting questions moving forward.
Rakuten purchased Overdrive back in 2015.
Rakuten also owns Kobo, and it makes you wonder if the company is looking to sell Kobo as well, and what does it mean for the Overdrive integration on Kobo ereaders moving forward?
How much is the Overdrive platform going to change under new ownership?
Here’s a quote from the press release:
“At a time of accelerating digital adoption throughout libraries and schools, OverDrive offers its growing user base a best-in-class technology platform and reading experience – something we’re excited to be a part of,” said Ted Oberwager, Managing Director at KKR. “We look forward to working with the Company to further grow its portfolio and network, and continue to build on its status as a recognized leader in the digital content space.”
KKR also owns RBmedia, another library lending platform.
Lots of people like using Overdrive to borrow ebooks from libraries so it’ll be interesting to see how this all plays out moving forward.
Persdonally, I do not like the overdrive, it takes so many steps to get the books. I quit using my Nook for that reason. I would have to download books from the library, to my computer, and then download to my Nook. And it did not always work.
That’s because Nooks make the process ten times harder than it needs to be. Kobos and Kindles make getting library books much easier. No one should be required to use Adobe’s nonsense software to read library books. KKR should boot Adobe to the curb and create their own universal system.
This is not an issue with Overdrive, but rather with Nook. Using a Nook with Overdrive is cumbersome. Using it with Kindle is very simple.
I borrow ebooks from the library via overdrive all the time. I hope this acquisition doesn’t degrade that process in any way.
Along with other digital services like Hoopla, our town library uses rbmedia to lend magazines digitally. http://www.rbdigital.com/50emagazine/service/magazines/landing
I bet they merge RBdigital now with Overdrive. It makes no sense to own two separate lending platforms.
I think you’re right.
I sure hope it doesn’t mess up the lending process for Kobos. I had a perfectly good Kobo Glo HD I loved but could not get Overdrive directly without using Adobe so I upgraded to the Kobo Libra specifically to get OD.
I like OD but I know it’s too expensive for libraries. Hopefully Hoopla will eventually offer as much content as OD – it’s far more cost-effective as libraries only pay per use.
I like and use Overdrive. I have no problems with my Nook or Kindle. I hope whatever they do does not deteriorate the service! Hoopla is a different matter, and I avoid it.
My library uses OverDrive and has notified their patrons that MacMillan Publishers recently (as of November 1) decided to limit libraries to one copy of each new ebook title for the first eight weeks after a book’s release.
This has affected 9 out of 10 new book releases I currently have on hold.
Wonder how this will all work out …