Who owns barnes and noble

I thank Mr. We would like to acknowledge the contributions of Founder and Chairman Leonard Riggio and his team for creating the leading bookstore company in the United States. The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions, including the receipt of regulatory and stockholder approval, and is expected to close in the third quarter of The merger agreement provides for the acquisition to be consummated through a merger structure. However, the parties expect to amend the agreement to utilize a tender offer structure, which is expected to reduce the time to closing by a number of weeks.

Evercore is acting as financial advisor and Baker Botts L. Credit Suisse Securities L. Its flagship fund, Elliott Associates, L. It is the only national specialist book retailer of scale in the UK, and operates also through the e-commerce site, Waterstones. These include statements relating to the financial and operational impact of the proposed transaction, the benefits of the proposed transaction, the expected timing of completion of the proposed transaction, as well as other statements that are not historical facts.

Forward-looking information involves risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in, or reasonably inferred from, such statements. Therefore, caution should be taken not to place undue reliance on any such forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this communication, and the Company expressly disclaims any obligation or undertaking to disseminate any updates or revisions to any forward-looking statement contained herein to reflect any change in its expectations with regard thereto or any change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any such statement is based.

This communication does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy our securities or the solicitation of any vote or approval. In connection with the proposed transaction, the Company intends to file a proxy statement and other relevant materials with the SEC in connection with the solicitation of proxies in connection with the proposed transaction. Daunt is looking to empower individual store managers to curate their shelves based on local tastes. Personally, I think this is a really smart strategy, yet the question remains: will this turnaround effort be enough to save the bookselling giant in a post-pandemic world?

I would suggest that is something shoppers will remember, talk about and that will bring them back. Yes, a lot of stores have experienced tough times recently, yet indies have been working hard to set themselves apart. The assumption, particularly with the quarantine and lockdowns, was that small independent stores were doomed. And while some stores are indeed no longer in business, others have emerged with strength.

Why is it that these indie bookstores are defying expectations? Perhaps Mr. Daunt has asked himself these same questions. A former client of mine in the automotive industry pursued a similar strategy, where a high degree of local autonomy led to increased client engagement, market share and operating margin.

This created an operational management nightmare—a challenge when trying to delight clients—and allowed competitors to find easy ways to chip away at their market share. Fast forward to the introduction of one national set of processes and the permission for local leaders to do what they thought necessary to appeal to their market, and the results were transformed. But then Daunt set about breathing life back into the company, in part by doing away with everything that made it cookie-cutter.

Booksellers at individual stores could even set their own prices. He also passed on some tricks of the trade. He did away with staff uniforms and three-for-two discount deals, and worked to make the shabby branches look polished and welcoming again.

He also had Waterstones stop peddling so many non-book products. Stationary, greeting cards, and other paper-based items were similar enough to books to be sensible. Educational toys and games were logical, too. Galoshes, on the other hand, were not. In , Waterstones turned a profit for the first time in eight years.

The turnaround was all the more remarkable because Daunt essentially convinced Waterstones to think locally—a reversal of the usual formula for success in big retail stores. Starbucks, for example, trains baristas to make mocha lattes taste the same way at every location.

But Daunt thinks books are a fundamentally different kind of product. Waterstones faced criticism for opening some unbranded stores that could easily be mistaken for indie shop. Daunt says the stores are categorically different from typical Waterstones outposts. Critics have also come after Waterstones for failing to mimic Daunt Books in one important respect: pay.

The UK consensus is that Daunt brought Waterstones back from the brink.