Best Buy gets antitrust approval to buy Napster (Reuters)
2008.10.01 -
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18 minutes ago
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Retailer Best Buy has been given antitrust approval to buy digital music service Napster, the Federal Trade Commission said on Wednesday.
Napster and Best Buy, a leading CD seller with a small digital presence, are betting that the deal will give them a better chance against Apple's dominant iTunes, which has more than 70 percent of the market.
The FTC announced the deal's approval in a listing that the agency puts out several times a week.
Best Buy offered $2.65 per Napster share, valuing the deal at $121 million when it was announced in mid-September.
The original Napster helped set the digital music market in motion in the late 1990s with a free music sharing service, which was shut down following a lawsuit filed by the music industry. The brand name was bought and resurrected as a legal digital subscription service.
(Reporting by Diane Bartz; Editing by Steve Orlofsky)
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