• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Login
  • Register
Publishers Lunch logo Publishers Lunch logo
  • Publishers Marketplace
  • Site Guide
  • Help
Login Sign Up
  • Personnel
  • AI
  • Compensation
  • Unions
  • Book Bans
  • New Releases
  • Earnings
  • The Trial
  • Archives
Publishers Lunch logo
  • Publishers Marketplace
  • Site Guide
  • Help
  • Publishers Marketplace
  • Site Guide
  • Help

August 10, 2009By Michael Cader

Barnes & Noble Will Acquire Private BN College

August 10, 2009By Michael Cader

Barnes & Noble [BKS] announced this morning that the company will acquire the privately-owned Barnes & Noble College operation principally owned by Len Riggio for $596 million, or about $460 million net of the college unit’s cash on hand. One major reason for the combination is the emergence of e-books and BN’s renewed attempts to build their online offerings and compete with Amazon. As Riggio says in the announcement, “Although both companies previously thrived as separate entities, owing to distinctions in their product offerings, the definition of textbooks and trade books has become increasingly blurred. This trend will accelerate with eBook offerings. Thus, combining both businesses on a single branded platform will enable the combined company to cross-promote print and digital offerings to all of our customers.”

Riggio is providing $250 million in seller financing for the transaction, and the rest will come from cash and BN’s little-used line of credit. Barnes & Noble has also announced “letters of commitment” to replace the two companies’ separate lines of credit with a new, $1 billion, four-year revolving line.

BN College ended its 2009 fiscal year on May 2 with sales of $1.8 billion and same-store sales growth of 1 percent. Operating 624 college bookstores, BN says the unit has a compound annual growth rate in sales of 6.2 percent over the past three years. Barnes & Noble expects the acquisition to boost earnings of the publicly-held company by 30 percent to 35 percent. That extra volume also gives BN renewed bragging rights as the country’s largest bookseller, surpassing Amazon’s North American “media” sales.

Irene Miller, who chaired a special committee of the board that oversaw the transaction, says “Reunifying the Barnes & Noble brand and reintegrating these highly complementary businesses has long been a top priority of the BKS Board. College has a leading position in a market with excellent fundamentals and will add a very predictable and growing revenue stream to BKS. In addition, in a rapidly changing environment, both companies will benefit from a unified digital platform and brand, which will enable the combined company to capitalize on the growing online college textbook and electronic book markets.”
Release

Filed Under: Bookstores, Finance, Free

sidebar

Primary Free Sidebar

Login

Forgot Password Quick Pass User Login
Get Full Access
The Publishing Industry’s Essential Daily Read

Each Publishers Lunch Deluxe subscription includes full access to our searchable multi-year archive of industry news, a nightly email reporting 10 to 50 deal transactions, and our database of industry contacts, scripts, and posting privileges.

Learn More

RSS Automat

  • Authors Write An Open Letter to Publishers Against AI July 1, 2025 Lit Hub
  • Pearson and Google Partner on AI Tools June 27, 2025 Press Release
  • Author of "Life as We Knew It," Among 76 Books of "Complex Stories for Young Adults" Susan Beth Pfeffer Dies at 77 June 26, 2025 NYT
  • Why Man Not Read Fiction We Think Should? IDK -- Let's Ask A Tourist Bookstore June 26, 2025 NYT
  • Baseball Writer Scott Miller Dies at 62 June 24, 2025 NY Post
  • Accusations of Plagiarism, AI Use, and Bullying on BookTok June 23, 2025 NBC News
  • Larry Gagosian Visits His Store, BookHampton: "I just want the store to look more serious" June 23, 2025 Curbed
  • TikTok's 8th Note Press Is Shutting Down, Returning Rights to Authors June 21, 2025 NYT/Bookseller
  • Researchers Find That Newer Meta AI Models Have Memorized More of Popular Books Like Harry Potter June 20, 2025 Ars Technica
  • David Steinberger Interviews James Daunt on the Open Book Podcast June 20, 2025 Open Road
Publishers Marketplace logo

Contact Us

News

  • Publishers Marketplace
  • Report News
  • Discuss
  • Classifieds
  • Rights Offerings

Deals

  • Report A Deal

Books

  • Buzz Books

Jobs

  • Job Board
  • Privacy Policy Terms of Use