Kobo has closed a $50-million financing aimed at helping the e-reading company majority owned by Indigo Books & Music fund its international expansion.
Indigo contributed $13 million of the $50-million in financing with the balance coming from leading institutional investors as well as current Kobo investor Cheung Kong Holdings.
“This round of investment adjusts Indigo’s majority ownership to 51 per cent,” said a statement issued Monday by Indigo, Canada’s largest book and specialty retailer.
“Kobo will use the new funding to continue its explosive growth internationally,” Greg Twinney, Kobo’s chief financial officer, added in a separate release.
Kobo kicked off its European expansion last week, with the announcement of plans to launch local content stores in Germany – the largest book market outside of the United States – as well as in Spain, starting in May.
Heather Reisman, Indigo’s founder and CEO and Kobo chair, said “we are immensely proud of the strides made by Kobo into the global market.”
“This additional investment will foster continued explosive growth for Kobo,” Reisman added.
