Though its stock price is still languishing at $13.17, below its initial post-spinoff price, Barron’s thinks Barnes & Noble Education(BNED) could be worth $25. Barron’s notes that Alex Fuhrman of Craig-Hallum Capital Group feels similarly. “It’s an attractive business with high barriers to entry because of the physical presence on college campuses and an early movement into the… Read More »
A few links for a rain soaked Friday: Baxalta (BXLT) is getting a lot of attention in the press and this blog due to Shire’s(SHPG) hostile approach, but things haven’t been so quiet at parent Baxter International (BAX) either. Shortly after the spinoff, Dan Loeb’s Third Point unveiled a massive stake (close to 10%) in the healthcare product company. While… Read More »
More spins mean more work for the folks at S&P Dow Jones Indices. With the completion of Barnes & Noble’s(BKS) spin of Barnes & Noble Education(BNED) this weekend, Barnes & Noble Education will join its parent in the S&P SmallCap 600, replacing A.M. Castle & Co(CAS). The change will maintain the index’s current ampersand level. With the completion… Read More »
As it continues along its primrose path to irrelevancy, Barnes & Noble(BKS) will complete its long-discussed spinoff of Barnes & Noble Education this weekend. Though the company had formerly combined its NOOK with the College business, it opted, in the end, to retain the NOOK business, and just hired Fred Argir to lead that business. It should be… Read More »
Despite the claims of ‘super activist’ Rick Shottenfeld, it certainly looks like the Nook is the more attractive part of Barnes & Noble (BKS) these days. After partnering with Microsoft (MSFT) earlier this year, the company has sold a 5% stake in Nook Media LLC to Pearson (PSO) for ~$89.5 million in cash, valuing the company at ~$1.79b.… Read More »
We’ve previously written about Barnes & Noble (BKS) separating its Nook division in preparation for a possible spinoff (here, here, here and here). Spinoff king John Malone has some involvement. We guess what was really missing was for a man with no history as an activist, who has not disclosed any stake in the company, to present some… Read More »
As we discussed previously, Microsoft(MSFT) had agreed to invest $300 million for a 17.6% stake in NOOK Media, which includes the digital and College assets of Barnes & Noble(BKS) including the NOOK device business. Barnes & Noble continues to own the remainder of the business. In today’s release, the company was careful to note that “As previously announced,… Read More »
John Malone is at it again. Liberty Media Company(LMCA), a former tracking stock that was spun out from his core Liberty Interactive(LINTA), will be spinning off its Starz subsidiary. The Starz spinoff will contain the operating assets of Liberty Media, including the Starz and Encore premium cable networks. Liberty Media’s assets after the spin will primarily be its… Read More »
We have recently noted that activist investors have notched a bunch of wins recently. For example, Jana Partners (involved with Marathon and McGraw-Hill) recently cleaned up with a well-timed investment into Barnes & Noble (BKS) that led to quite the ‘victory lap‘ for managing partner Barry Rosenstein who said that “there is no point in fighting us,” and… Read More »
We’ve written here previously about the possibility of embattled bookseller Barnes & Noble(BKS) spinning off its Nook business. We’ve written elsewhere about the turnaround at Microsoft(MSFT). Today, both stories collide in an explosive way. The two companies will create a joint venture to which Barnes & Noble will contribute its Digital and College businesses, and to which Microsoft… Read More »
Activism is alive and well these days. A little while ago, we noted that Barnes & Noble (BKS) was considering its options for its cash burning yet growing Nook business. It seems the company wasn’t alone in that thinking and is now being publicly egged on by Michael Glickstein, CIO of G Asset Management and one of BKS’… Read More »
M&A gets a lot of attention, but many have questioned whether or not it delivers the expected returns to shareholders. Often this is a result of paying too much. While the data on spinoffs is pretty favorable (we might be a bit biased here), the transaction can have some consequences. For example, if the parent company doesn’t retain… Read More »
It shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone that Barnes & Noble(BKS) is struggling. Its stores, with their high fixed costs and high prices, have difficulty competing with online-only Amazon(AMZN). Despite years to improve its website, shopping at bn.com is still a sterile experience that leaves even ardent bibliophiles like us cold(and prices are consistently higher than Amazon’s).… Read More »