Posted on 06/07/2019 3:09:47 PM PDT by BenLurkin
Just about eight months after Barnes & Noble revealed it was exploring a possible sale, the embattled bookseller has settled on a buyer.
The mega-chain, which boasts 627 locations across the U.S., announced Friday that the Elliott Management Corp. has agreed to buy Barnes & Noble for about $683 million — a price tag that includes the bookseller's debt, which Elliott will take on as part of the deal.
The move marks Elliott's second major splash in the world of books in the span of a year. Last June the New York-based hedge fund acquired Waterstones, which, with more than 280 bookshops, is the largest retail bookseller in the U.K.
Now, Elliott is set to own the largest bookseller in the U.S., too.
"We are pleased to have reached this agreement with Elliott, the owner of Waterstones, a bookseller I have admired over the years," Leonard Riggio, the founder of Barnes & Noble's modern iteration and still its chairman, said in a statement released Friday. "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."
Elliott was careful to note that "each bookseller will operate independently" — but added that "they will share a common CEO and benefit from the sharing of best practice between the companies." That CEO is James Daunt, the British-born chief of Waterstones, who plans to head up both companies from New York City.
"Physical bookstores the world over face fearsome challenges from online and digital," Daunt said Friday. "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."
Once the towering Goliath of the bookselling world, these days Barnes & Noble is getting dwarfed by primarily online competitors — particularly Amazon, which reportedly sells nearly 50 percent of all new books. The bricks-and-mortar giant, on the other hand, has seen its revenue slide each year for the past several years.
Daunt has been credited with helping turn the fortunes of Waterstones, which less than a decade ago was "losing horrendous amounts of money," in the words of its CEO. Lately, the British bookseller has been reporting leaps in profits. The financial backing of Elliott, which says it currently manages approximately $34 billion in assets, shouldn't hurt Barnes & Noble either.
The U.S. bookseller expects the deal to close by the end of September.
If B&N goes under, my city of 400,000 people will have lost its last bookstore. Think about that for a second, we really are going into a barbarian age.
There’s an advantage to buying on Amazon - they don’t hide and/or misfile the conservative books. Every time my wife has gone to B&N with a buy list it drives her nuts.
OK, it may be that the customers are hiding the books. But when you ask help finding a conservative book, the clerks all too often get snotty. We had one who, when asked for help, muttered under her breath “Do people ever read this stuff?” Nice.
Ok i confess. Ive done the same
Not sure who’s been “covered” the most, but
Turnabout is fair play.
“Think about that for a second, we really are going into a barbarian age.”
It’s a twenty mile drive to the edge of the closest city and another 10 to a bookstore. I order on Amazon and have it delivered to my door. Also, there’s a library nearby. Although it’s small, I can order any book in the system.
Our biggest chance for turning into barbarians is if EMP wipes out our electronics and nobody has real hard copy books. I can imagine that coming as hard copies will continue to get more expensive.
Come to think of it, I have had digital copies of all of the Shadow and Doc Savage novels since 1998. Used to read those on a desktop computer in the living room.
I never have to pick which book to take on vacation. I take them all.
There’s an advantage to buying on Amazon - they don’t hide and/or misfile the conservative books.
_____________
no they just de-list them
I quite liked Waterstones in London. Similar vibe to Barnes.
Books will be collectors items in the not to distant future. Like buggy whips, booksellers are a thing of the past.
What’s the next step in censorship after the paper bookstores are all gone..?
Once The Establishment doesn’t like you..?
All your stuff will disappear in a few keystrokes.
From the reader’s tablets and phones?
Yes.
You need physical books to stuff in the septic tank. Just sayin.
Love, Team Randall
I remember a story I read back when kindles first came out. There was a series of books offered for sale. They were public domain, and some company reassembled them and sold digital copies.
Only they weren’t in the public domain. The device manager deleted the books from the devices and refunded the purchase price. The consumer found out that the books were gone when the device was turned on.
Substitute “they contained hate speech” for “they weren’t in the public domain” and see where things will go with books, music and movies in the not so distant future.
(yes, I know they can be moved to other devices out of reach, but the majority doesn’t do that)
I love my local Barnes & Noble. I can get the history books I want. I can get the conservative books I want. I can get the Christian books I want.
The workers there are polite, and helpful. Just browsing there on a lazy afternoon is fun. As kaehurowing noted, losing a bookstore is a step towards barbarism. It’s like losing a museum.
Note that with digital books they can disappear in a second. Yes, they can do that. With physical books they have to come and seize them from you.
“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.”
I take this to mean that they’re buying the stores, the inventory and taking over the management? I don’t see where the actual STORES will be leaving, though probably some consolidation in poorer-performing areas.
Besides my local Library, and buying (and selling!) on Amazon, the only book store I’ve been to in ages IS Barnes & Noble.
It seems to me it’ll be the same thing as Pro Bass Shops buying the Cabela’s brand. Beau & I shop there at least 6 times a year; I can’t see that much has changed other than there is more women’s clothing, candles and lotions and a better selection of female boots and shoes.
Not a bad thing. :)
Well actually, removing B&N would allow small locally-owned bookstores to once again exist and thrive, offering better service and prices to customers and investing more back into the community. You should welcome their demise.
Eliot Mgt is run by vampires and the chief is a lib demon.
Unfortunately, I don’t think we will be seeing the bookstores come back. We had the same thing happen with local sporting goods stores. Sports Authority drove them all out of business, and then Sports Authority went bankrupt. Now we have no sporting goods stores.
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