Best-selling former SAS author Andy McNab was in the money again today when Tesco spent £4.5 million on Mobcast, the digital books platform that he co-founded in 2007.
The purchase from the Bravo Two Zero writer and chief executive Tony Lynch is the latest digital acquisition by a supermarket giant as retailers such as Tesco, Sainsbury’s and Morrisons compete with online rivals such as Amazon.
Tesco bought digital movie-streaming service Blinkbox, a rival to Amazon’s LoveFilm, last year and snapped up internet radio service WE7 in June.
Supermarkets have made huge profits with books, DVDs and CDs and are anxious to maintain that revenue as sales of physical goods fall in favour of digital versions.
Michael Comish, Tesco’s chief executive for digital entertainment, said: “We are already one of the UK’s largest booksellers and Mobcast will help us offer even more choice.”
