US online retailer Amazon.com has announced it is to buy British distributor The Book Depository.
The cost of the transaction remains undisclosed.
The Book Depository is an online bookseller offering over 6m books for delivery worldwide.
The acquisition is subject to regulatory approval.
In May, Amazon.com said that it now sells more digital e-books than paper books and that its recently introduced lower-priced Kindle e-reader is outselling other versions of the device.
Amazon, which does not divulge exact sales figures for the Kindle or e-books, said that for every 100 print books it has sold since April 1, it has sold 105 e-books.
That includes both paperback and hardcover books, but excludes free downloads.
