New York City and London — Barnes & Noble, Inc. has been successfully acquired by Elliott Advisors (UK) Limited. Elliott’s acquisition of Barnes & Noble, the largest retail bookseller in the United States, follows its June 2018 acquisition of Waterstones, the largest retail bookseller in the United Kingdom.
Barnes & Noble serves 627 different communities across all 50 states, where it remains the Number 1 bookseller in the United States. Elliott seeks to build upon this strong foundation as it addresses the significant challenges facing the brick-and-mortar book retail space in the United States, applying a model that successfully turned around Waterstones over the past decade. Elliott will own both Barnes & Noble and Waterstones and, while each bookseller will operate independently, James Daunt will serve as CEO of both companies and relocate from London to New York.
“This is a very good day for bookselling,” says James Daunt, CEO of Barnes & Noble. “Barnes & Noble is the greatest of all bookstore names and will now benefit from the support of an owner committed to physical bookselling. With investment and concentration on the core principles of good bookselling, the prospects for this extraordinary company are bright.”
Adds Paul Best, portfolio manager and head of European private equity at Elliott: “Barnes & Noble has an extraordinary heritage, one that we want to protect and grow. We look forward to working with James Daunt and the Barnes & Noble management team in this exciting endeavor.”
Barnes & Noble will now operate as a privately held, indirect wholly-owned subsidiary of Elliott; Barnes & Noble’s common stock will cease trading on the New York Stock Exchange.
Elliott Management Corporation manages two multi-strategy investment funds. Elliott Advisors (UK) Limited is an affiliate of Elliott Management Corporation.
SOURCE: Barnes & Noble, Inc.