Barnes & Noble (BKS) Message Board

From: Lahcim Leinad	4/30/2012 8:10:29 AM
	1 Recommendation Read Replies (1) of 1678

B&N shares leap on Microsoft digital-tech plan - MarketWatch By Robert Daniel TEL AVIV (MarketWatch) -- Barnes & Noble Inc. BKS +5.23% shares nearly doubled before the opening bell as the New York bookseller entered a digital-reading-technology partnership with Microsoft Corp. The companies formed a subsidiary to be held 82.4% by B&N. Under the terms, Microsoft will invest $300 million in the new subsidiary at a valuation of $1.7 billion in exchange for the rest of the unit. The new unit will include B&N's digital and college units. And one of the venture's first efforts, they said, will be a Nook application for Microsoft's planned Windows 8 operating system. Barnes & Noble and Microsoft said that they had settled patent litigation between them and that the bookseller took out royalty-bearing licenses under the Redmond, Wash., software major's MSFT -0.40% patents for its Nook e-reader and tablets. On Jan. 5, B&N had said that it was looking into how it might separate its digital business from its stores to build value for shareholders. BKS Pre-market: 27.61 +13.93 (101.83%) Apr 30, 8:09AM EDT