A third of Barnes & Noble stores may close in next decade. A new report said Barnes & Noble Inc. Chairman Leonard Riggio wants to buy the company's stores, and leave the company's Nook e-book business as a separate company, according to CNN.com.
In a Securities and Exchange filing, Riggio said he plans to make an offer for Barnes & Noble Booksellers and barnesandnoble.com. The proposal will exclude the separate unit the company created this fall to deal with its Nook e-reader and college bookstores efforts. The New York Company's stock rose from 11 percent in Monday morning trading to $15.01 a share.
Barnes & Noble acknowledged Riggio's interest in a statement and said that it compiled a committee of three independent directors to evaluate the proposal and oversee any negotiations. The company said it has no timetable for the review. Riggio bought Barnes & Noble in the 1970s and is now the company's largest shareholder, with a 30 percent stake.
He also informed the company's board of his intentions Monday, expecting to negotiate a price with the board and fund the buyout mostly with cash.
Statistics show that Barnes & Noble currently operates 689 bookstores across the country. The advent of e-readers and evolving reading habits has caused major cuts in conventional trips to the bookstore to buy books. Borders Group Inc. liquidated in 2011.
That would leave the chain with 450 to 500 stores, according to a Wall Street Journal report quoting Mitchell Klipper, chief executive of Barnes & Noble's retail group. Sales in the chain's retail segment slipped during the nine-week holiday period ending Dec. 29, dipping 10.9 percent compared with the same period a year earlier due in part to store closures and lower online sales.
