Amazon.com snaps up Zappos.com

7/22/2009

SEATTLE Amazon.com is adding the popular Web site Zappos.com to its empire.

Under the terms of the agreement, Amazon will acquire all of the outstanding shares and assume all outstanding options and warrants of of the online shoe and apparel retailer in exchange for approximately 10 million shares of Amazon common stock, equal to approximately $807 million based on the average closing price for the 45 trading days ending July 17. In addition, Amazon will provide Zappos employees with $40 million in cash and restricted stock units. Subject to various closing conditions, the acquisition is expected to close during the fall of 2009.

“Zappos is a customer focused company,” said Jeff Bezos, founder and CEO of Amazon.com. “We see great opportunities for both companies to learn from each other and create even better experiences for our customers.”

Following the acquisition, the Zappos management team will remain intact and Zappos will operate independently with headquarters in Las Vegas.

“We are joining forces with Amazon because there is a huge opportunity to utilize each other’s strengths and move even faster towards our vision of delivering happiness to customers, employees and vendors,” said Tony Hsieh, CEO of Zappos. “We will continue to build the Zappos brand and culture in our own unique way, and we believe Amazon is the best partner to help us do this over the long term.”

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