Barnes & Noble to Buy Back Pearson's Stake in Nook

By Chelsey Dulaney 

Barnes & Noble Inc. will buy back Pearson PLC's stake in its flagging Nook division, as the largest U.S. bookstore chain prepares to split itself into two separate companies next year.

Pearson's exit follows Microsoft Corp.'s decision to sell its 16.8% stake in Nook Media LLC earlier this month for about $125 million in cash and common stock.

Pearson, which took a 5% stake in Nook Media in 2013, had a right to sell its stake back to Barnes & Noble for terms similar to the ones Microsoft received. Pearson will receive $13.8 million in cash and more than 600,000 shares for its stake, which will return full interest in the unit to Barnes & Noble.

Barnes & Noble's separation into two companies--one consisting of 658 consumer stores and BarnesandNoble.com, and the other encompassing 714 college bookstores and the Nook digital business--is expected happen at the end of August 2015, instead of the earlier target of March.

Write to Chelsey Dulaney at [e-mail]

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