Tesco has snaffled up ebook seller Mobcast, adding Andy McNab's ebook know-how to its growing digital arsenal.
Tesco reportedly paid around £4.5 million for the cloud-based bookshop and its library of more than 130,000 books which can be read on Android, iOs, BlackBerry and iRiver, among other platforms.
Mobcast is the latest in a string of digital acquisitions the supermarket has made, joining Blinkbox (for films) and We7 (for music) in Tesco's virtual aisles.
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The ebook seller was set up by thriller writer and SAS soldier Andy McNab who, presumably, could kill you with an ereader if he wanted to.
He's pleased because "being acquired by Tesco ensures that [our] original vision will be available to as many people as possible" and also because of all the millions of pounds.
Michael Cornish, CEO of Tesco digital entertainment, explains that the acquisition makes all kinds of sense for the grocer:
"We want our customers to have the widest choice in digital entertainment. We are already one of the UK's largest booksellers and Mobcast will help us offer even more choice for the large and growing number of customers who want to buy and enjoy books on their digital devices whenever and wherever they want."
It's not the first supermarket to venture into the brave new world of ebook retail, however; Sainsbury's snapped up Anobii back in June.
