Barnes & Noble Inc's (BKS.N) efforts to find a buyer have slowed to a crawl, erasing recent gains in its stock price, as potential suitors question the bookseller's ability to compete against formidable rivals. Barnes & Noble is trying to reinvent itself and has a winner with its Nook e-reader. Its largest direct rival, bankrupt Borders Group Inc BGPIQ.PK, is shrinking by half. Yet the company's stock has fallen below $12, less than where it was when the company put itself up for sale in August. The hope of a takeover had lifted the struggling chain's shares as much as 47 percent. But they have since lost all those gains as a bidder has so far failed to emerge for the challenging auction.
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