Bookstores

Books-a-Million has filed a preliminary proxy statement with the SEC in advance of a special shareholders’ meeting to vote on the Anderson family’s offer to buy out the stock they do not own for $3.25 a share (valuing the entire company at $50 million). A date for the meeting has not been set yet. The filing provides the first comprehensive and honest look at a company that has been in play at least since 2011 and also explains why there have been just a few potential buyers over the years. (Something like 40 percent of the company’s value is attributed to […]

As expected, the revised, final and only viable reorganization plan for the bankrupt and ever-diminishing Family Christian Stores was approved by Bankruptcy Court Judge John Gregg. Per the proposal that was sent to creditors for their approval a month ago, FCS Acquisition is paying between $52.4 million and $55.7 million to acquire the chain, backed by Atlanta businessman Richard Jackson. CEO Chuck Bengochea says he expects they will close a modest 12 to 14 stores from across the 266-store chain. Bengochea credits divine intervention — “We have a sovereign God who has a plan for Family Christian” — rather than the good […]

Barnes & Noble officially spins off Barnes & Noble Education as a separate, publicly-traded company next Monday, when we’ll start to get a clearer view of how investors value the two distinct parts. The company itself declared BNED worth 38.7 percent of the whole — since each BKS stockholder gets .632 shares of the new spin-off company as a dividend. But BNED began provisional “when issued” trading last week. There has been very little action in those shares, which is not so unusual, but in the limited market, the price has dropped 8.5 percent, to $13.50 a share. With 48 […]