Barnes & Noble regains full ownership of Nook unit in $28-million deal

New York City -Barnes & Noble announced that it has bought back full ownership of its Nook e-reader business, which it plans to split into a separate company.



On Tuesday, the bookseller said that it acquired educational book publisher Pearson Inc.'s stake in Nook for $27.7 million; the deal closed Monday, and Barnes & Noble said it now owns Nook Media outright.



Barnes & Noble said last summer that it would split off the Nook business, which is losing money. The move is intended to boost shareholder value. The New York company said it hopes to complete the separation by the end of August.



Earlier this month Barnes & Noble agreed to buy back Microsoft Corp.'s stake in Nook for $125 million. Microsoft had paid $300 million for a minority stake in Nook and Barnes & Noble's college bookstores in 2012, and Barnes & Noble supplied Nook content and apps for Microsoft's Windows products.