One of the world's largest private equity firms just bought one of the world's largest library ebook companies

Cory Doctorow 6:05 am Fri Dec 27, 2019

KKR is one of the largest private equity funds in the world. Overdrive is one of the largest e-lending suppliers to the world's libraries, supplying 43,000 libraries in 75 countries.

Now, KKR owns Overdrive, having purchased it for an undisclosed sum. Private equity firms' business model is to buy profitable, productive companies, load them up with debt (paying themselves out of the money that was borrowed), cut costs by slashing wages and degrading the quality of their products and services, then allowing the company to go bust, stiffing the creditors, workers, and suppliers (that is, libraries, publishers and writers).

Gary Price notes, "Worth noting. In 2018, KKR acquired RBMedia/RBDigital and Audiobooks.com providers of audiobooks and other materials to libraries and consumers."

Report: Global Investment Firm KKR to Acquire Overdrive For an Undisclosed Amount [Gary Price/Infodocket]

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