International audiobook and e-book streaming services company Global Storytel AB has announced that it is acquiring iCast Ltd., the audiobook streaming pioneer on the Israeli market. The acquisition paves the way for Storytel’s launch in Israel in the first quarter of 2021. No financial details were disclosed but sources close to the deal say it was for about NIS 20 million.
Launched as a podcast service in 2006, iCast moved into the audiobook arena in 2010 entering agreements with local publishers before launching Israel’s first audiobook service the following year. Today, iCast offers a catalogue of 2,500+ titles in Hebrew, including bestsellers and classics such as Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale, Yuval Noah Harari’s Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind, F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, David Baldacci’s crime novels, and best-selling titles by prominent Israeli authors such as Meir Shalev, David Grossman and Amos Oz.
Storytel founder and CEO Jonas Tellander said, "We are excited to take Storytel to the tech-savvy Israeli consumer market with its rich storytelling traditions, confidence in digital products and payment solutions, and high degree of social interactivity both online and offline. The combination of iCast’s unique local expertise and Storytel’s proven commitment to investing in user-friendly technology, content and unmatched accessibility to popular stories is a strong combination. And it certainly implies large growth potential and an awesome new chapter for the Israeli story lovers and the audiobook."
The acquisition of iCast is a key part of Storytel’s preparations for its launch in Israel, a country of over 9 million people. The launch is scheduled for the first quarter of 2021 and is part of Storytel’s rapidly growing global business and content offering. Today, the company has more than 1.3 million subscribers, operations on 20 markets and a library of more than 500,000 titles worldwide.
iCast founder and CEO Moti Lipman has been appointed Storytel country manager Israel. He said, "I’m very proud and thankful for the iCast team’s dedication and devotion that has created both an audiobook market in Israel and a business that shows profit for the third year in a row. Storytel’s unique global experience, scale and technical capability undoubtedly create the prerequisites to take the Israeli audiobook market to the next level regarding user experience, content development, production and marketing, making the audiobook relevant to even more consumer groups on the Israeli market. It is going to be an exciting journey that we can’t wait to start."
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on September 1, 2020 © Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2020