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 Chelsey.Dulaney@wsj.com
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