Report: Global Investment Firm KKR to Acquire Overdrive For an Undisclosed Amount

UPDATE June 9, 2020: New Chapter Begins for OverDrive as Part of Private Equity Firm KKR (Crain’s Cleveland Business) ||| OverDrive Blog Post

From KKR:

“KKR is delighted to be investing in OverDrive, a premier digital content platform that serves libraries and library patrons around the world,” said Richard Sarnoff, Member at KKR.

[Clip]

“OverDrive is very excited to work with the world-class KKR team due to their track record of accelerating digital media and technology businesses in global markets,” said Steve Potash, founder and CEO of OverDrive. “This provides access to an extraordinary network of capabilities to empower our institutional partners for the benefit of the communities and readers they serve.”

KKR is making the investment in OverDrive from its KKR Americas XII Fund.

Read the Complete Announcement

Worth Noting: KKR Acquired RBMedia  providers of the RBDigital and Audiobooks.com platforms for audiobooks and other digital content on July 16, 2018.

Worth Noting 2: KKR is one of four majority shareholders of Cengage Learning. KKR’s Richard Sarnoff (Chairman of Media, Entertainment and Education, Americas)  and Kermit Cook, Co-Head of KKR Capstone in the Americas, are members of the Cengage Board of Directors.

From Marketwatch.com:

The two sides did not provide a price tag for the Ohio-based property, which Rakuten purchased for $410 million in 2015, but Rakuten said it would recognize about $365.6 million in profit from the sale in the first quarter of 2020. KKR said that Overdrive serves 43,000 libraries and schools in 75 countries, and that it will use money from the KKR Americas XII Fund for the investment.

Read the Complete Report

See Also: Announcement of Agreement Regarding Transfer of All Shares of OverDrive Holdings, Inc. (via Rakuten)

See Also:Review Other Companies in the KKR Portfolio

See Also: From March 19, 2015

Official Statement and CEO Letter: OverDrive Sold to Rakuten For $410 Million in Cash 

FAQ From the 2015 Sale (via Internet Archive)

Filed under: Gale, Libraries, News, Patrons and Users