The Wall St Journal reports that Microsoft Corp. MSFT -0.03%
is making a $300 million investment in Barnes & Noble Inc.'s BKS +64.59%
Nook digital-book business and college-texts unit in a move that helps value
the prized Nook business, the companies said.
Microsoft will have a 17.6% stake in a new subsidiary for
the businesses in a transaction that values them at $1.7 billion, the companies
said. That compares with Barnes & Noble's current market capitalization of
about $791 million and could fuel the argument of some analysts and investors
that the digital business should be separated from the retail division.
As part of the move, there will be a Nook application
included in the new Windows 8, which is scheduled to have a release preview in
early June. Later this year, computers and tablets with Microsoft's Windows 8
operating system are expected to go on sale....
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