Wednesday, August 21, 2013

Barnes & Noble founder pulls out of plan to buy struggling bookstores

Company plunges deeper into losses amid slumping sales of its Nook e-reader device with shares falling 14% this quarter

Barnes & Noble
Barnes & Noble CEO Leonard Riggio has said he will not buy the company's bookstores. Photograph: Spencer Platt/Getty Images

Barnes & Noble Inc's founder pulled the plug on his plan to buy the company's bookstores as the chain posted a deeper quarterly loss amid plunging sales of its Nook device and e-books and declining business at its stores.

Shares of the largest US bookstore chain fell 14% to $14.35 in premarket trading on Tuesday, even as the quarterly results came in slightly ahead of Wall Street expectations.
Leonard Riggio, the company's chairman, founder and top shareholder, said he has suspended his efforts to make an offer for B&N's retail business but reserves the right to pursue an offer in the future.
Riggio, in a statement, said he believes "it is in the company's best interests to focus on the business at hand".
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