Dec. 04--Barnes Noble and Microsoft are "consciously uncoupling" to the tune of about $125 million in cash and stock.
More than 2-1/2 years after entering into a "strategic partnership," the two companies have ended their agreement over the struggling Nook e-reader.
The nation's largest bookstore chain is buying back Microsoft's stake for $62.4 million and about 2.7 million Barnes Noble shares, according to Securities and Exchange Commission filings released Thursday. The announcement came as the bookseller reported a 2.7% drop in revenue for the fiscal quarter ending Nov. 1.
Thursday's announcement marks the next move in the bookstore's plan to to spin off its Nook business as a separate public company.
The New York-based bookstore chain's Nook segment posted $64 million in revenue for the quarter, a drop of about 41% from this time last year. Digital content sales fell nearly 21% compared to a year ago, to $45 million. Barnes Noble shares were down 13% in early morning trading.
Barnes Noble launched the Nook in an effort to compete in a market dominated by Amazon's Kindle. Washington state-based Microsoft invested $300 million for a 17.6% stake in the e-reader in April 2012.
"As the respective business strategies of each company evolved, we mutually agreed that it made sense to terminate the agreement," Microsoft said in a statement.
The bookseller said it expects to separate its Nook business by August.
