What Does Borders Shutdown Mean for the Kobo E-Reader?

What does Borders' decision to close all of its remaining physical stores have on the Kobo e-reader? Very little, Kobo said in a statement Tuesday night.

But for those customers with accounts via Borders, the company does have a transition plan.

Borders, which announced it would liquidate its remaining physical inventory after unsuccessfully finding a way to keep its stores in operation, will end up selling its physical inventory of books.

But the chain only owned an 11 percent stake in Kobo, an independent company which sells 2.4 million e-books and other periodicals. And Kobo said it has struck its own agreements with the major publishers, and does not rely on Borders for content.

"As one of the early investors in Kobo, Borders has a minority stake in our company and serves as part of our distribution in the U.S. along with Walmart, Best Buy, Sears and other leading retailers," said Michael Serbinis, the chief executive of Kobo, in a statement. "As a member of the broader book publishing and retailing community, we are watching Borders' story and will offer our support to Borders and their employees. Kobo will continue to serve Borders customers – in this time of transition as well as moving forward – to provide the ultimate eReading experience and one of the widest selection of eBooks available to the eReading community worldwide."

Kobo recently announced the $129 Touch Edition of its e-reader , which PCMag.com found to be a notch below the Barnes & Noble Nook and the Kindle e-reader from Amazon.

Those customers who own a Kobo e-reader purchased through Borders may not have to worry. The company said that it has been in the process of switching the Kobo accounts away from Borders and onto the Kobo platform. "All Borders customers that have transitioned to Kobo shall enjoy uninterrupted access to their e-Reading accounts," Kobo said. "Kobo shall continue to work with Borders to transition customer accounts to Kobo."

For those whose accounts haven't switched, however, the process should be relatively seamless, Kobo promised. Borders customers can visit the Kobo transition site to transfer their Borders eBook library to Kobo. No other steps are required.

Customers using Borders-branded apps to read their e-books can also visit the Kobo Web site to download a Kobo app, the company said.