The story below is very interesting as Barnes & Noble has received two separate takeover offers from G Assset Management. The idea behind the deals is to separate the unprofitable Nook business from the highly profitable bookstore business. Barnes & Noble had some early success with its Nook reader and reached a compelling deal with Microsoft, but would have been way better off if the business had been sold around that time, as BKS lacks the capital to compete in the highly competitive consumer electronics industry. G Asset Maagement is offering to buy 51% of the total company or 51% of the Nook business. If I were BKS, I’d take up their offer on the Nook business but the fact that Microsoft is also an owner may complicate the process. It might make sense to try and offload the whole business to Microsoft and focus on the bookstore business, where it has benefited from the bankruptcy of Borders.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-02-21/barnes-noble-gets-takeover-proposal-from-g-asset-management.html