November 7, 2003, 12:00 AM

Barnes & Noble Inc. seeks to buy out its online counterpart

With Barnes & Noble.com starting to show improved financial performance amid continuing net losses, Barnes & Noble Inc. is offering to pay about $115 million for the remaining shares of the dot-com operation that it doesn’t already own.

 

With Barnes & Noble.com starting to show improved financial performance amid continuing net losses, Barnes & Noble Inc. is offering to pay about $115 million , or $2.50 per share, for the remaining shares of the dot-com operation that it doesn’t already own, Barnes & Noble Inc. said today.

Barnes & Noble Inc. already owns about 75% of the online unit, following its $164 million purchase of a 37% share from media company Bertelsmann AG earlier this year.

The online unit reported a Q3 net loss of $12.2 million, an improvement of 30% from its year-ago net loss of $17.5 million. It has also forecast full-year sales of $415 million to $435 million, compared to $423 million last year.

Barnes & Noble.com said it has retained Dewey Ballantine LLP as legal counsel and formed a special committee of independent directors to evaluate the acquisition offer. The online book seller launched in March 1997, and has since served more than 15.8 million customers in 230 countries.

 

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