B&N, Microsoft team up on Nook, college businesses
Barnes & Noble Inc. and Microsoft Corp. are teaming up to create a new Barnes & Noble subsidiary that will house the digital and college businesses of the bookseller and include a Nook application for Windows 8.
The companies said Monday that they are exploring separating those businesses entirely. That could mean a stock offering, sale, or other deal could happen.
The partnership will Microsoft, will see the Redmond, Wash. company make a $300 million investment in the subsidiary for an approximately 17.6 percent stake. Barnes & Noble will own about 82.4 percent of the subsidiary, which has yet to be officially named.
The possibility of a separation of the businesses has been brewing recently. In March private investment firm G Asset Management, a Barnes & Noble shareholder, offered $460 million for a 51 percent stake in the company’s college bookstore unit, Banes & Noble College Booksellers LLC.