• MarketWatch, Wall Street Journal, Monday, November 8, 2010 10:56 AM

Amazon has acquired Quidsi, the parent company of Diapers.com and Soap.com, MarketWatch confirms this morning, for $500 million in cash and the assumption of about $45 million in debt and smaller obligations.

Writing in the Wall Street Journal before the deal was formally announced, Geoffrey A. Fowler and Ellen Byron point out that the deal shows hope for the online sale of consumer staples such as cleaning supplies, shampoo and paper goods. Quidsi, launched in 2005, pairs a wide selection and fast, free shipping with an efficient warehouse-distribution system.

"I'm not sure which is more unpleasant -- changing diapers, paying too much for them, or running out of them," Jeff Bezos, founder and CEO of Amazon says in a statement announcing the purchase. "This acquisition brings together two companies who are committed to ... making one of the chores of being a parent a little easier and less expensive."

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