Litres, a leading Russian e-book company, has acquired a majority (51%) stake in Eesti Digiraamatute Keskus OÜ (Estonian Digital Book Centre or EDRK). The details of the transactions were not disclosed.
EDRK is an online wholesale e-book platform which controls 90% of the Estonian market, according to company statements cited by Vedomosti. Litres hopes to replicate in Estonia the success of MyBook, an e-book and audiobook subscription service which it launched in Russia last year.
The acquisition of EDRK will not only allow Litres to enter the Estonian market: the Russian company also has plans to develop in Latvia and Lithuania, where EDRK already operates, as well as in Finland.
Litres launched activities in Poland in May this year as the first step of its international expansion plan.
Founded in 2005, Litres is co-owned by Eksmo, a major Russian publishing house, and Ozon, a leading e-commerce company. Ozon acquired its stake in the company in 2014.
