Best Buy, the largest US consumer electronics retailer, is to acquire Napster, the music download provider, as it seeks to establish itself as a significant force in the global market for mobile devices and digital services.
Napster, whose original free file sharing site once shook up the music industry, is now one of a host of rivals offering MP3 music download services, in a digital world dominated by Apple's iTunes service.
But Best Buy executives highlighted the significance of its Napster Mobile platform, launched in 2006, which could complement Best Buy's own efforts to expand its own mobile sales through its growing relationship with the UK's Carphone Warehouse. In March this year, Best Buy invested $2.1bn in a joint venture that will run CPW's European retail stores, including the opening of its first Best Buy stores in the UK next year.