Sonic buys Roxio software biz

But not Napster, which goes it alone

By Lester Haines • Get more from this author

Posted in Applications, 20th December 2004 13:51 GMT

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Sonic Solutions today completed its acquisition of the consumer software division of Roxio, including the company's "industry-renowned CD and DVD burning, authoring, photo and video editing applications, notably Easy Media Creator, PhotoSuite, VideoWave, Easy DVD Copy and Toast".

The deal, announced in August, sees Sonic pay $80m - $70m cash and $10m stock. In return it gains all the intellectual property rights for the software division, but does not include Napster. Roxio Inc. will now become Napster Inc. and continue to operate Napster as an independent outfit.

Sonic hopes that Roxio will become its "premier consumer software brand". The company has inherited over two hundred Roxio employees as part of the deal, and says that we should watch the new "Roxio Division of Sonic Solutions" for "exciting announcements as we combine two world class technology organizations and redefine the digital media landscape".

The move leaves Napster's eggs firmly in the online music basket - a strategy open to question as we have previously noted. ®