Barnes & Noble Inc struck a deal to purchase Microsoft Corp's stake in Nook Media LLC, ending a two-year partnership and clearing the way for the bookseller to spin off its loss-making e-reader and digital content division.Barnes & Noble shares fell as much as 14.3 percent in early trading after the company also reported a much weaker-than-expected quarterly profit, due to lower sales of Nook devices.The company estimated the value of the cash and share deal at about $125 million.Nook, launched in 2009, enjoyed initial success but has ended up costing Barnes & Noble hundreds of millions of dollars as it was unable to keep pace with Amazon.com Inc's Kindle and Apple Inc's iPad.
Barnes & Noble, Inc. (Barnes & Noble) is a bookseller. Shares of BKS fell by 8.02% or $-1.7844/share to $20.46. In the past year, the shares have traded as low as $13.02 and as high as $24.62. On average, 683047 shares of BKS exchange hands on a given day and today's volume is recorded at 2387967.
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