It's a done deal: after earlier rumours, Belgian Internet radio startup Radionomy has confirmed that it has acquired once-popular media player Winamp and streaming software platform SHOUTcast from AOL.
AOL originally said it would close down the legacy music services before the end of last year, but there was a lot of acquisition interest after the announcement, and it seems Radionomy won out.
Belgian business newspaper De Tijd has the scoop (in Dutch, paywall), with Ben Serrure reporting that Radionomy plans to breathe new life into Winamp while significantly expanding its core business with the acquisition of SHOUTcast.
Update: and here's the official press release announcing the deal.
Update 2: AOL-owned TechCrunch has learned that it indeed involved a cash-and-share deal, worth between $5 million and $10 million, with AOL taking a 12% stake in Radionomy.
Thanks to the SHOUTcast part of the agreement, Radionomy will instantly be able to grow the number of online radio stations it hosts from roughly 7,000 to about 60,000 stations in total.
Last month, Radionomy merged with TargetSpot, a U.S.-based digital audio advertising network.
As for Winamp, it sounds like the people still using the media player despite the lack of updates in recent times can rest easy for now, as Radionomy says it has 'big plans' for the product. The company wants to have solid Winamp iOS and Android apps on the market by April, reports De Tijd.
From the press release:
"Winamp is a top independent player that gives millions of people the best player functionality available," said Alexandre Saboundjian, CEO, Radionomy Group.
"Its role is clear in the future evolution of online media – we plan to make the player ubiquitous, developing new functionalities dedicated to desktop, mobile, car systems, connected devices and all other platforms."
Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed, but Radionomy co-founder and CEO Alexandre Saboundjian did disclose to De Tijd that the company has raised a new Series B round of funding and that AOL will become a Radionomy shareholder after the transaction closes.
According to its 'facts sheet' (PDF), Radionomy raised approximately $6 million in funding in the past. Shareholders include Musicmatic (which will maintain a majority stake in Radionomy and continue to run Jamendo, a 'free music' bazaar of sorts) and French investment firm OTC.
De Tijd reports that new investors include Union Square Ventures (Twitter, Etsy, Kickstarter, Foursquare, SoundCloud, etc.) and Bain Capital (DoubleClick, Lala, Gartner, LinkedIn and Shopping.com). This checks out and it is likely a result of the TargetSpot/Radionomy merger - both Bain Capital and USV were TargetSpot investors.
We've reached out to Mr. Saboundjian for more information and will update when we hear back.
Featured image credit: Le Web /Flickr
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