Rhapsody’s planned acquisition of Napster is expected to complete next month, but what will it mean for the latter company and its services? GigaOm has a good report pulling together some previously unannounced details. It claims Napster’s offices in LA and San Diego will close, with only a handful of its 120 staff expected to transfer to Rhapsody. It also cites reports that Napster’s current subscriber base is less than 400,000, and confirms that the acquisition is – in Rhapsody boss Jon Irwin’s words – “all equity”. In other words, Rhapsody didn’t pay any cash for Napster, it simply gave the latter’s parent company Best Buy a minority stake in its own business. The report also investigates plans for Europe. “Business in Canada, the UK and Germany isn’t affected and will continue like before,” says Napster’s Euro VP Thorsten Schliesche. It seems Napster’s European assets are not part of the announced acquisition, but that Rhapsody is looking to buy them as part of a separate deal.
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