Barnes & Noble, the world’s largest specialty bookseller, said it was reviewing a possible sale as its board believes its shares are significantly undervalued. Barnes & Noble shares soared 21 percent after the company announced formation of a special committee of four independent directors to consider all options for increasing shareholder value.
Shareholder Leonard Riggio has told the board he would consider being part of a wider investor group that could buy the company.
Barnes & Noble has come under increasing pressure from larger retail rivals including Amazon.com Inc and Wal-Mart Stores Inc. Its sales have also suffered as more readers turn to digital books on devices like Amazon’s Kindle and Apple Inc’s iPad.
Mr Riggio is not the founder of Barnes and Noble, he may be the founder of the current version but the firm goes back to Mr Charles Barnes and Mr Clifford Noble who started the business in New York in 1917. Mr Riggio didn’t buy the chain until 1971. They used to operate Economy Books in Chicago until closing them down in that same year.