Shares in Barnes & Noble Inc rose 32 percent in premarket trading on Thursday after a report that its partner Microsoft Corp is considering an offer to acquire all of Nook Media's digital assets.Microsoft already owns a substantial stake in the business, but the technology industry website TechCrunch reported the company was proposing a $1 billion offer to purchase the rest of Nook's digital assets. Nook Media also includes the college bookstore chain.The report also suggested that Nook would stop selling Android-based tablets entirely by the end of fiscal 2014 in favor of distributing content via other publishers' platforms.Microsoft first acquired a roughly 17 percent stake in the Nook Media unit from Barnes & Noble a little more than a year ago, in a deal that valued the entire business at $1.7 billion. In December the British publisher Pearson Plc bought a stake in the unit at a $1.8 billion valuation.
Barnes & Noble, Inc. (Barnes & Noble) is a bookseller. Shares of BKS traded higher by 18.81% or $3.3424/share to $21.11. In the past year, the shares have traded as low as $11.17 and as high as $19.58. On average, 1254180 shares of BKS exchange hands on a given day and today's volume is recorded at 5325959.
Pearson plc, (Pearson) is an international media and education company with its principal operations in the education, business information and consumer publishing markets. Shares of PSO fell by 0.11% or $-0.02/share to $18.38. In the past year, the shares have traded as low as $17.08 and as high as $20.48. On average, 478373 shares of PSO exchange hands on a given day and today's volume is recorded at 26037.
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