The deal is “clearly motivated by Apple and Amazon as relatively unstoppable forces, each in their own domain,” said James McQuivey, an analyst at Forrester Research.
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David Paul Morris/Bloomberg NewsEmployees at a Barnes & Noble in Emeryville, Calif.
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Microsoft agreed to invest hundreds of millions of dollars in Barnes & Noble’s
Nook division on Monday, giving the bookstore chain stronger footing in
the hotly contested electronic book market and creating an alliance
that could intensify the fight over the future of digital reading.
The deal,
which gives Microsoft a 17.6 percent stake, values the Nook unit at
$1.7 billion — roughly double Barnes & Noble’s entire market value
as of last Friday — and bolsters the bookseller’s efforts to make its
digital business the linchpin of its future growth.
