Amazon.com has reached an agreement to acquire AbeBooks. AbeBooks is an online marketplace for books, with over 110 million primarily used, rare and out-of-print books listed for sale by thousands of independent booksellers from around the world. It also owns complementary book-selling and book-shopping properties.

AbeBooks will continue to function as a stand-alone operation based in Victoria, British Columbia and will maintain all of its websites, which include Abebooks.com, Abebooks.ca, Abebooks.co.uk, Abebooks.de, Abebooks.fr, Abebooks.it and Iberlibro.com. The acquisition is subject to customary closing conditions, including regulatory approvals, and is expected to close before the end of the fourth quarter of 2008.

According to the AbeBooks website, it acquired BookFinder.com - a leading price comparison shopping service dedicated to books - in November 2005. In February 2006, it acquired FillZ, a book inventory and order management company that helps booksellers offer books through online marketplaces. In May 2006, AbeBooks took a 40% stake in Librarything.com, a book cataloguing and social networking site for bibliophiles. In February 2008, AbeBooks launched Gojaba.com, a new no-frills, low-cost online marketplace for used, rare and out of print books in emerging markets.

In April 2008, AbeBooks acquired Chrislands.com - a service that builds, hosts and maintains online bookstores. Interestingly, Chrislands allows its sellers to accept PayPal and Google Checkout. Amazon.com just launched its own competing checkout and payment service this week.

Amazon.com vice president of books Russell Grandinetti said in a press release announcing the news, "As a leader in rare and hard-to-find books, AbeBooks brings added breadth and expanded selection to our customers worldwide. AbeBooks provides a wide range of services to both sellers and customers, and we look forward to working with them to further grow their business. We're excited to present all of our customers with the widest selection of books available any place on Earth."