Indigo Books & Music announced yesterday that it has spun off its Shortcovers ebook service into a new company called Kobo. Indigo will retain a 58 percent stake in Kobo which will also be backed by Borders, REDgroup Retail, Cheung Kong (Holdings) Ltd., and other leaders in technology and retail.
According to Michael Serbinis, CEO of Kobo, “We have assembled a strong syndicate of investors and partners across the channels that are key – retail and mobile distribution. We have a unique opportunity to power the eReading revolution by reaching consumers on any device they choose."
Indigo launched Shortcovers back in February. Its ebook application is available for a number of different devices including smartphones (iPhone, BlackBerry, Palm Pre and Android versions available), desktops and some ebook readers such as the Sony Reader.
Kobo’s catalog of 2 million ebooks is available to customers in over 200 countries. Prices typically range from CA$4.99 to CA$19.99.