Barnes and Noble now has multiple suitors to sell the company. Last week Elliot, the Hedge Fund from New York submitted an offer that will pay $475.8 million in cash. This would take the bookseller private, which should provide breathing room and they should develop a long term vision, instead of short term results to placate shareholders. A bidding war might be imminent as yet another company has made a play to buy Barnes and Noble.
Readerlink LLC is a book distributor and they are working towards making a bid for Barnes & Nobles, that would top hedge fund Elliott Management Corp agreed price to buy the U.S bookseller, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday, citing a source. If Readerlink can get financing, it would consider making a bid before the cutoff date, the report said, adding that the company may join with another investor.
According to a securities filing, the merger agreement with Elliott contains a “keep-shop” provision that specifies that if Barnes & Noble strikes a deal with a third party before 11:59 p.m. ET on Thursday, June 13, Elliott would be entitled to a payment of up to $4 million. After that date, the breakup fee would be $17.5 million in cash.
Last year, Barnes and Noble reported a net loss of $125 million after reporting a profit of $22 million in 2017. Revenue declined 6% to $3.7 billion while comparable-store sales were down 5.4%.
Michael Kozlowski is the editor-in-chief at Good e-Reader and has written about audiobooks and e-readers for the past fifteen years. Newspapers and websites such as the CBC, CNET, Engadget, Huffington Post and the New York Times have picked up his articles. He Lives in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
