Classic Films

Hopefully this wont change the Criterion sales.

Barnes & Noble Is Sold to Hedge Fund After a Tumultuous Year





Barnes & Noble’s future has been the subject of speculation for months. Barnes & Noble has been acquired by the hedge fund Elliott Advisors for $638 million.

The sale was announced Friday morning following months of speculation over the future of Barnes & Noble, the largest bookstore chain in the United States and a critical retail outlet for publishers and authors.

Elliott’s acquisition of Barnes & Noble follows its purchase of the British bookstore chain Waterstones in June 2018. James Daunt, the chief executive of Waterstones, will also act as Barnes & Noble’s C.E.O. and will be based in New York.

The sale, which was an all-cash transaction, valued Barnes & Noble stock at $6.50 a share, a premium of nearly 42 percent over the retailer’s stock price on Wednesday, before reports of an impending deal caused the price to surge on Thursday.

The sale was approved unanimously by Barnes & Noble’s board. Leonard Riggio, the company’s founder and chairman, who voted for the transaction, said in a news release: “In view of the success they have had in the bookselling marketplace, I believe they are uniquely suited to improve and grow our company for many years ahead.”
Mr. Daunt is well regarded in the publishing industry for rescuing Waterstones from near bankruptcy. In the announcement, he said he was confident that Barnes & Noble could flourish despite the challenges facing the industry.

“Physical bookstores the world over face fearsome challenges from online and digital,” he said. “We meet these with investment and with all the more confidence for being able to draw on the unrivaled bookselling skills of these two great companies. As a place in which to choose a book, and for the sheer pleasure of visiting, we know that a good bookstore has no equal.”

The Wall Street Journal had reported that Elliott Management was the favored buyer of Barnes & Noble.

Barnes & Noble has struggled to make a profit and increase its foot traffic and sales in recent years. The company has closed more than 150 stores in the last decade or so, leaving it with 627 stores.

Waterstones has pursued a strategy that many analysts say is the only way to compete in a marketplace dominated by online sales, by allowing individual Waterstones booksellers to tailor each store to a community’s needs and interests. Mr. Daunt, who took over in 2011, has said that Waterstones operates more like a constellation of independent stores, rather than a homogeneous chain.Elliott will own both chains, and while Barnes & Noble and Waterstones will operate independently, they will share a C.E.O. and “benefit from the sharing of best practices between the companies,” the news release said.


Mike Shatzkin, the chief executive of Idea Logical Company, a book-industry consulting firm, said a sale was probably the best outcome for Barnes & Noble’s future.

“Somebody else had to save Barnes & Noble; the present ownership succeeded in a completely different environment and was not ready to jump into the 21st century,” he said. Of Elliott, he added, “The fact that they own Waterstones certainly puts them in the right direction. Their ability to influence the publishing industry is going to be stronger being in both markets.”

Paul_SD

If they do curtail them, hopefully Criterion themselves will still continue with the flash sales twice a year.

PhantomStranger

I expect significant changes to the chain's operating practices.

BuckNaked2k

Such as? Membership benefits? Coupon acceptance?

Shannon Nutt

I think the first thing they'll do is downsize...close stores that are redundant (within the same geological area) and/or not getting much foot traffic. Then they're likely to return the focus to books...get rid of the toys, games, DVDs/Blu-rays, etc. I'm guessing about one-eighth of my local B&N is non-book items. I expect those will go in the next year.

Red Hood

They need to promote the hell out of the Nook app and put amazing sales there to compete with Amazon. Also, they need to stop limiting the use of coupons for one time only. I used to buy from them more often when the 20% off coupons were for as many items as I wanted with unlimited use. Also, they need to do more in-store events for kids and signings for adults. It seems that only select stores in the bigger cities tend to get these types of events.

Probably though, this is the beginning of the end for B&N. Hedge funds tend to buy properties like this to clean them out of their assets and liquidate the property, like they did with Toys R Us. It's sad that the Wall Street economy sponsors this.

spainlinx0

Yup, they will be gone within a few years. These places aren't there to revive businesses, they are there to gut the bodies and sell the organs.

Shannon Nutt

Except that Elliot did revive Waterstones. I think they'll at least try some new things before they throw up the white flag.

Josh-da-man

Only one eighth? I'd say about half of mine is things other than books. There's a big toy section, with lots of Harry Potter and Game of Thrones stuff, a decent-sized selection of records, a recently down-sized DVD/blu-ray section, and a big area with stuff like stationary and bookends. And the middle of the store is a big empty space dedicated to the Nook, which might as well have tumbleweeds blowing through it.

I'd still hate to see it go away, though. I'm still broken-hearted over the demise of Borders.

Elliot turning around Waterstones gives me some hope, though.