Original URL: https://www.theregister.com/2011/01/20/amazon_buys_lovefilm/
Amazon buys Lovefilm
DVDs and Blu-rays by post
Posted in On-Prem, 20th January 2011 10:03 GMT
Amazon is buying Lovefilm, the European subscription film and game service.
The bookseller already owned 42 per cent of the company and is now buying all the remaining shares. Financial terms were not disclosed, but previous reports suggest a value of around £200m for Lovefilm which claims 1.4 million customers.
Amazon used to run a similar service to Lovefilm, but closed it in order to partner with Lovefilm. Subscribers to Lovefilm pay a monthly fee in order to hire either one, two or three DVDs, or games, at any one time. Once you've watched a film you post the disc back, and receive another film from your selection.
The companies said they'd had a strong relationship since 2008, when Lovefilm bought Amazon's DVD business.
Simon Calver, chief executive of Lovefilm, said with Amazon's support his company would be able to improve "members' experience across Europe".
Lovefilm is also getting into digital delivery of films and you can choose to have them streamed to your Playstation 3 or watch them online. It operates in the UK, Germany, Sweden, Norway and Denmark.