Amazon's Audible Play

Scott Moritz

01/31/08 - 08:58 AM EST

Seeking more books in all forms, Amazon (AMZN - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr) says it will pay $300 million for Audible (AUBL - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr).

The online retail giant has agreed to pay $11.50 a share for the Newark-based books-on-tape specialist. The deal represents a 23% premium to Audible's closing stock price of $9.33 Wednesday. Audible's share jumped 22% in pre-market trading Thursday.

The news comes a day after Amazon reported a disappointing profit margin but boosted guidance for the year. Among the drags on Amazon's profits is its new venture into gadgets with a tablet device known as Kindle that lets users read digital books.

Amazon shares are down 8% in the wake of the earnings release and the announcement of the Audible acquisition.

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