Liberty Media Makes $1 Billion Bid to Acquire Barnes & Noble

Liberty Media, the conglomerate that owns Starz, Encore and the Atlanta Braves, has made a billion dollar bid to acquire Barnes & Noble.

On Thursday, Liberty Media sent a proposal to Barnes & Noble’s Board of Directors to acquire the publicly-traded company for $17 per share. With a little more than 60 million outstanding shares, the acquisition would be worth just north of $1 billion. The bid is a 20% premium from Barnes & Noble’s closing price of $14.11. The stock’s price has skyrocketed to $16.97 in after hours trading.

The book retailing giant put itself up for sale in summer 2010. It has faced falling book sales due to the astronomical growth of Amazon and the rise of ebooks and digital media. B&N is the creator of the Nook ereader, but its competing in a market dominated by the Amazon Kindle. In 2006, Barnes & Noble was worth $3 billion.

The acquisition, which would give Liberty Media and its chairman John C. Malone control of 700+ retail locations and 600+ college bookstores, still faces several hurdles. It must not only secure shareholder and regulatory approval, but the deal is contingent on Barnes & Noble chairman Leonard Riggio’s continued involvement in the company.