Should the deeply troubled Borders chain close, publishers will survive just fine. But for authors who don't have instant name recognition with book buyers, the loss of an outlet with scads of shelf and floor space is a serious blow. Plus, it's one less place where authors and readers can connect.
Hedge fund manger Bill Ackman says he will finance a takeover bid for rival bookseller Barnes & Noble at $16 a share -- a 20.5% premium over Friday's closing price. Faced with increased competition, B&N has seen sales plunge in recent quarters.
Bookseller Barnes & Noble Inc. may enact limitations on the size of single shareholder stakes, as the family of founder and chairman Leonard Riggio and activist shareholder Ron Burkle battle for control of the company.
A bitter proxy fight climaxed at Tuesday's shareholder meeting. In the end, B&N Chairman Len Riggio's defeat of dissident shareholder Ron Burkle was more fait accompli than 11th-hour surprise. And it left lots of questions unanswered.
With less than two weeks to go in the bitter proxy contest between Barnes & Noble founder Leonard Riggio and billionaire Ron Burkle, one key analyst has changed his outlook on the company's stock for the worse and a leading proxy advisory firm has sided with the Riggio camp.
For the quarter ending July 31, overall sales dropped 11.5% from a year ago to $526 million, continuing a downward spiral that's seen revenues over this time decline year-on-year from $945 million in 2007 to $749 million in 2008 to $617 million in 2009.
Faced with tumbling book sales, Borders, the country's second largest bookstore chain, will begin selling stuffed animal kits from Build-A-Bear Workshop in its stores. It also plans to cut prices of its e-reading devices.
Barnes & Noble's board has sent a letter to shareholders urging them to vote to rebuff investor Ron Burkle's battle to control the bookseller. The letter is part of annual-meeting materials B&N mailed to shareholders, formally launching its proxy battle.
Barnes & Noble reports a consolidated net loss of $63 million, or $1.12 per share. That's considerably more than the loss estimated by investors. Meanwhile, a battle with a major shareholder intensifies.
After losing in court, renegade investor Ron Burkle is poised to launch a proxy contest for Barnes & Noble that will be tinged by animosity between Burkle and B&N founder and chairman Leonard Riggio.
An unspecified number of the 650 employees working at the company's Ann Arbor headquarters have been cut. The stock price has already dipped on the news.
Think struggling book retailer Borders finished with layoffs in 2010? With four rounds of layoffs so far this year and no new ideas for a turnaround, don't be surprised if co-CEO Bennett Lebow pulls out his old 1980s playbook and makes a bid for, say, Barnes & Noble.
