13:18
Juan MC Larrosa
Microsoft to Take Stake in Nook Unit of Barnes & Noble
BY MICHAEL J. DE LA MERCED
Mike Spencer/Wilmington Star News, via Associated PressBarnes & Noble bookstores prominently feature displays of Nook e-readers.
Mike Spencer/Wilmington Star News, via Associated PressBarnes & Noble bookstores prominently feature displays of Nook e-readers.
Microsoft announced on Monday that it would invest $300 million in Barnes & Noble’s Nook division for a 17.6 percent stake. The deal values the e-reader business at $1.7 billion.
The move by Microsoft will help bolster the standing of Barnes & Noble’s fastest-growing unit. The bookstore giant had said earlier this year that it was exploring strategic options for the business, including a potential divestiture or strategic partnership.
The company has wagered heavily on the Nook, whose e-readers and tablets compete against Amazon’s best-selling Kindle devices in the hotly contested world of electronic books.
Both companies are spending heavily to maintain a foothold in light of Apple’s success with the iPad.
The Nook division’s growth has come at enormous financial cost, weighing down on Barnes & Noble’s bottom line and prompting the strategic review. The retailer added on Monday that it was still weighing other options for the business.
Through the deal, the two companies will settle their patent disputes, and Barnes & Noble will produce a Nook e-reading application for the forthcoming Windows 8 operating system, which will run on traditional computers and tablets.
The new division, which has yet to be renamed, will also include Barnes & Noble’s college business. It is meant to help the business compete in what many expect to be a growth area for e-books: the education market, something that Apple has already set its sights on.
The new company and “our relationship with Microsoft are important parts of our strategy to capitalize on the rapid growth of the Nook business, and to solidify our position as a leader in the exploding market for digital content in the consumer and education segments,” William J. Lynch Jr., Barnes & Noble’s chief executive, said in a statement.
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