Sony Corporation of America (SCA) has made announcement about the signing of a merger agreement with a technology firm, Gracenote for approximately $260 million in addition to other contingent consideration.
 
The deal, subject to certain regulatory and other approvals, is expected to close by the end of the coming month (May 2008).

SCA senior vice president, software Tim Schaaff stated, “Sony sees tremendous growth potential in developing Gracenote as a separately run business unit, and by broadly embracing Gracenote's platforms, Sony expects to significantly enhance and accelerate its own digital content, service, and device initiatives.”
 
Gracenote CEO Craig Palmer said, “Having a closer connection with the content and digital services community will accelerate adoption of Gracenote technologies, and the relationship will also give us the resources necessary to rapidly expand development of next generation products for the industry.”
 
Gracenote’s platforms will help Sony to strengthen its own digital content, service and related initiatives. 

The subsisting business operations of Gracenote will operate separately, and its senior management team will remain with the company.

Gracenote is known for offering up its music database for iTunes, Yahoo! Music Jukebox and Winamp. Moreover, the company also provides technology for mobile content applications.