OverDrive sold to private equity firm KKR

[DuckieTigger]

Originally Posted by rcentros

Yep, the climate has always been changing throughout the ages. Still not sure what that has to do with KKR buying out Overdrive.

You want me to spell it out for you? Issybird was merely reminding us not to break forum rules, or there would be consequences. It wasn't about being on topic or not. I am not sure why you are asking if the weather is on topic for the sale of Overdrive. It is obviously not on topic. When you asked, you must have merely misunderstood the green warning, so I attempted to clear up any misunderstandings.

[odamizu]

Originally Posted by pwalker8

I thought the rule was as long as the original poster doesn't mind, you can go off topic, but if the original poster objects, then you are suppose to stay on subject. Of course, what is on subject can be a matter of debate.

As the OP, I am delighted to see this thread get back to the topic of the future of OverDrive and the ramifications of its sale to KKR. I hope posters will stay on-topic.

I don't have much commentary to offer. Mostly interested in speculation and insight from more knowledgeable folk.

Thank you

[DuckieTigger]

Originally Posted by odamizu

As the OP, I am delighted to see this thread get back to the topic of the future of OverDrive and the ramifications of its sale to KKR. I hope posters will stay on-topic.

I don't have much commentary to offer. Mostly interested in speculation and insight from more knowledgeable folk.

Thank you

I am glad you want us to stay on topic. Going forward I will respect that, even if I directly get asked an off topic question.

I have noted one thing that is very unusual about Overdrive. Looking at their webpage it still appears as if Rakuten owns it. Does that mean that the sale is not officially finished and pending some paperwork or registration?

ETA: Oops, rereading the announcement it clearly says:

signing of a definitive agreement to acquire

So it is not even sure if and when the actual sale is happening and to whom. KKR may end up just being listed as the broker and not new owner?

ETA2: Is being a broker a standard clause for every PE company? Their own website says they can:

https://www.kkr.com/email-disclaimer

KKR Capital Markets LLC is a broker-dealer registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission

[haertig]

Originally Posted by binaryhermit

Even if Overdrive went out of business, how would that put your kindle in the grave, presumably Amazon would still sell ebooks, Kindle Unlimited would still be a thing, and so would sideloading.

It would put my Kindle in the grave because I am not willing to pay the high prices they charge to buy an eBook. Others may not think that they are overpriced, but I do, and when it's my money, my opinion is the only one that counts. And KU, at $9.99 per month, would cost me close to $15 per book since I am not a fast reader (6 weeks per book is not unusual). The books you find on KU can alternately be bought outright at reasonable prices. But I have found KU offerings are really hit or miss. Some are worth reading, but there are a whole bunch that are not. This is the main reason why I jump on every "99 cents for 3 months" KU promotion I can, and check out an average of one book per day. I do not read all these books (being a slow reader), but I sample enough of their content to build up a list of worthwhile ones. So if in the future I do have to start buying KU books outright, I have a list of (hopefully) good purchases.

I really like library borrowing (thus Overdrive by association). The one problem with library borrowing is the typical 21 day limit per book, but I have found that by joining multiple libraries in my area that I can generally check out a book from one and if I'm reading at my normal slowness, have a fallback copy on hold at a different library. The fallback copy then gets checked out if I fail to finish the book within the 21 day period. If push comes to shove, I can always put my Kindle into airplane mode until I finish the borrowed book. The book stays on the Kindle until internet connectivity is restored, despite the advertised maximum lending duration. My Kindle is normally in airplane mode most all the time now anyway.

If library borrowing goes away (e.g., if Overdrive goes away), then I would go back to buying used paperbacks to save money instead of spending so much to buy eBooks for my Kindle. To be perfectly honest, I have enough books in my "to be read" collection - both paper books and eBooks - to last the rest of my life. So while I wouldn't like it, I could survive without ever buying or borrowing another book.

[odamizu]

Originally Posted by DuckieTigger

... So it is not even sure if and when the actual sale is happening and to whom. KKR may end up just being listed as the broker and not new owner?

According to the joint press-release put out by KKR and OverDrive, KKR signed a "definitive agreement to acquire OverDrive".

According to MarketWatch, that sale is expected to close during first quarter 2020, at which time Rakuten expects to "recognize about $365.6 million in profit".

[stumped]

i guess a definitive agreement is not the same as signing a contract, or is it?
where's a good lawyer when you need one ?

[Kindleing]

Originally Posted by stumped

i guess a definitive agreement is not the same as signing a contract, or is it?
where's a good lawyer when you need one ?

I'm not a lawyer, good or otherwise, and I don't know what legal hoops they have to jump through to complete the sale, but I believe this is an agreement to start the approval process. They may need approvals from various government agencies which could block the sale and void the agreement. For some acquisitions it is mostly automatic but for others there can be real problems.

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by haertig

The books you find on KU can alternately be bought outright at reasonable prices. But I have found KU offerings are really hit or miss. Some are worth reading, but there are a whole bunch that are not. This is the main reason why I jump on every "99 cents for 3 months" KU promotion I can, and check out an average of one book per day. I do not read all these books (being a slow reader), but I sample enough of their content to build up a list of worthwhile ones. So if in the future I do have to start buying KU books outright, I have a list of (hopefully) good purchases.

.

Last I heard pretty much every Kindle ebook has free samples to download or a read inside link. Some samples are useless as they only offer up the indicia but many (most?) offer up enough text to gauge the quality of the writing.

Worth checking.

[issybird]

The OP has requested that posts stay on topic. Please respect that. A post has been deleted.

[pwalker8]

Originally Posted by haertig

It would put my Kindle in the grave because I am not willing to pay the high prices they charge to buy an eBook. Others may not think that they are overpriced, but I do, and when it's my money, my opinion is the only one that counts. And KU, at $9.99 per month, would cost me close to $15 per book since I am not a fast reader (6 weeks per book is not unusual). The books you find on KU can alternately be bought outright at reasonable prices. But I have found KU offerings are really hit or miss. Some are worth reading, but there are a whole bunch that are not. This is the main reason why I jump on every "99 cents for 3 months" KU promotion I can, and check out an average of one book per day. I do not read all these books (being a slow reader), but I sample enough of their content to build up a list of worthwhile ones. So if in the future I do have to start buying KU books outright, I have a list of (hopefully) good purchases.

I really like library borrowing (thus Overdrive by association). The one problem with library borrowing is the typical 21 day limit per book, but I have found that by joining multiple libraries in my area that I can generally check out a book from one and if I'm reading at my normal slowness, have a fallback copy on hold at a different library. The fallback copy then gets checked out if I fail to finish the book within the 21 day period. If push comes to shove, I can always put my Kindle into airplane mode until I finish the borrowed book. The book stays on the Kindle until internet connectivity is restored, despite the advertised maximum lending duration. My Kindle is normally in airplane mode most all the time now anyway.

If library borrowing goes away (e.g., if Overdrive goes away), then I would go back to buying used paperbacks to save money instead of spending so much to buy eBooks for my Kindle. To be perfectly honest, I have enough books in my "to be read" collection - both paper books and eBooks - to last the rest of my life. So while I wouldn't like it, I could survive without ever buying or borrowing another book.

21 day limit? Things have certainly changed in the decades since I was a kid working on a 7 day check out.

The basic issue with libraries and eBooks is managing the process of checking out eBooks and making sure that people aren't making copies. I would not be incredibly shocked if we eventually get to the point of national libraries with regards to eBooks. If you don't have to go in person to check out a book, then it could make sense. For that matter, I can see moving to some sort of subscription based public library. A lot of the pieces are already in place with various public libraries offering a membership for a yearly fee. If things go in that direction, it could be quite lucrative for Overdrive.

[stumped]

There is certainly a market for paid library access. Right now, wanting overdrive for me is like wanting various streaming services that I would happily pay for ,to have legal access , but they can't/won't take my money. Stupid geo restrictions. There's not a single UK library that offers out of area overdrive access. The ones that say you can sign up from anywhere in the UK then follow up with "you must then turn up in person with lots of proof of address so we can tell you that you cant actually borrow anything"..
And as disclosed in a recent thread elsewhere, most USA libraries are no longer taking out of country .applications. Kindle unlimited is not a substitute- too big a haystack, too few needles..

A national overdrive library woild suit me just fine, and is surely cheaper to provide than hundreds of small bricks and mortar outlets

[DuckieTigger]

Originally Posted by stumped

A national overdrive library woild suit me just fine, and is surely cheaper to provide than hundreds of small bricks and mortar outlets

A B&M outlet is not necessary for ebooks. The possible danger of centralizing and nationalizing to a single library system is the wait lists. A higher populated area (e.g. a major city) will have disproportionate better and faster access than any rural area. Sounds like a bad idea.

[stumped]

i haven't done the math, but queuing theory will suggest that 1 big central library would handle ebook queues/wait lists better than lots of smaller ones?
and would have much more buying power to counter some of the anti-library moves coming from publishers

as for city vs rural, isn't e-lending all about the" death of distance "
or is this theory outdated?
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Death-Dista.../dp/158799089X

[haertig]

I don't think the current pricing model would work for a national library. Where you have a limited number of copies, bought at very high prices compared to an individual purchaser. What might work is an "immediately to public domain" model. You write a book, accept a one-time upfront payment, which would need to be rather significant, and then your book is out there forever. For anybody, anywhere, for free. Therefore no wait lists. No return dates. There would also have to be some kind of vetting process so scammers wouldn't dump garbage books in there. I would pay a subscription into a national library that worked on a model like that. Subscriptions would pay for acquiring the books. Totally unworkable I'm sure, but I can dream can't I?!

[stumped]

i think the main problem is libraries needing lots and lots of copies, short-term, to satisfy demands for "best sellers"...
and lazy people like me exacerbate things by going directly to the " most popular" or "bestseller" library e-shelves and placing holds on anything that looks tasty ( because browsing the whole catalog takes much longer )

what's really needed is a decent curated service- something that spotify have cracked for music & netflix do a reasonable job of for video : look at what I watch/listen to and come up with personalized recommendations.
So something that looks at my checkout history ( which overdrive apparently discards !) , filters out the stuff I immediately returned because clearly I did not read all of that, and proposes interesting stuff from the less-used shelves to match my tastes and at the same time optimize stock.
{ i recently read "That Will Never Work: The Birth of Netflix ..." and back when they were lending out DVDs they built a system to make good recommendations to customers AND optimize stock usage }

I admit to not caring much for goodreads so I never populate that with my likes as I am not a great social media reader.
but if goodreads was able to suggest my next library loan, having checked what's available , that would be attractive.
if overdrive did it, that would be even better
I was frankly amazed when I asked a librarian if overdrive kept my borrowing history and was told they just throw it away