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Bookstore chain Barnes & Noble just isn’t solely nonetheless alive, however is slowly including new areas to the corporate’s portfolio. Earlier within the week, Barnes & Noble confirmed that it made a proposal to amass Tattered Cowl E-book Shops, which is an iconic unbiased bookstore in Denver. The deal is topic to approval from the U.S. Chapter Courtroom.
Barnes & Noble was taken non-public in 2019 by Elliott Funding Administration for about $683 million, which was a 43% premium over Barnes & Noble’s 10-day closing worth on the time. As a part of the deal, James Daunt, the managing director of London-based Waterstones Booksellers, grew to become CEO. Barnes & Noble has existed since then as a privately held, wholly owned subsidiary of Elliott. A former Barnes & Noble subsidiary, Barnes & Noble Faculty Booksellers, was spun off from the corporate in 2015 and nonetheless trades as an unbiased firm referred to as Barnes & Noble Training (NYSE:BNED).
Barnes & Noble mentioned it stays dedicated to serving native communities with wonderful bookstores and selling literacy. In Denver, the corporate mentioned it’s trying ahead to preserving what has made Tattered Cowl so particular inside the e-book promoting group for during the last 50 years.
Subsequent chapter
Barnes & Noble is being credited with a mini turnaround since Daunt took over the corporate. In 2023, Barnes & Noble opened extra new bookstores in a single 12 months than it had within the ten-year interval from 2009 to 2019. The corporate expects to open over 50 new bookstores this 12 months and continues to transform present areas, together with a $4 million makeover of a high-profile location in New York Metropolis’s Higher West Facet. At the moment, Barnes & Noble is estimated to be working 592 shops. Beneath Daunt, Barnes & Noble has additionally refocused on its core e-book promoting enterprise by eradicating non-book gadgets from shops and empowering native managers to curate stock primarily based on group pursuits. The B&N financials and stability sheet could also be on the mend as nicely. Final 12 months, sources instructed the Monetary Instances that an IPO for Barnes & Noble is one in all a lot of choices for the longer term. Apparently, Elliott Administration holds a majority stake in British e-book retailer Waterstones, which could possibly be a part of the IPO combine as nicely, in principle.
A number of the activist fund’s different prime holdings embrace stakes in Suncor Vitality (SU), Johnson Controls (JCI), F5 Networks (FFIV), Alexion Prescription drugs, and Marathon Petroleum (MPC).
Studying between the traces
So why does Barnes & Noble nonetheless have a pulse? It could be filling a void that Starbucks’ (NASDAQ:SBUX) former CEO Howard Schultz and the corporate’s advertising and marketing described because the “Third Place” or the area that’s neither house nor work, however a welcoming setting the place people can chill out, join, and benefit from the Starbucks expertise. Schultz hammered away as that idea as a prime precedence for years. Nonetheless, in 2022, Starbucks (SBUX) determined to maneuver away from its “Third Place” enterprise mannequin to emphasise drive-thru, pick-up, and supply choices. Whereas many Starbucks (SBUX) shops have been overwhelmed with cellular pickup visitors, Barnes & Noble has attracted extra consideration just lately as a calmer setting for passing time.
