Barnes & Noble to spin off college business

New York – Barnes & Noble Inc. is separating its college business from its retail and Nook digital businesses. The planned separation of Barnes & Noble Education (which comprises the Barnes & Noble College business) will, when consummated, create two independent, publicly traded companies.



The separation is intended to be a tax-free distribution to Barnes & Noble shareholders and is anticipated to be completed by the end of August 2015, subject to customary conditions.



Barnes & Noble believes that the separation will allow each business to optimize its strategic opportunities with separate management and board focus. The separation will also allow investors to assess each business as a stand-alone company.



“We have a talented College management team in place, led by CEO Max Roberts, and we will continue to invest and innovate to support the mission of our campus partners, expanding to new colleges and universities, students and faculty and increasing our presence in the growing market for digital educational content and services,” said Michael P. Huseby, CEO of Barnes & Noble.



Barnes & Noble’s college division operates 714 stores on college and university campuses in the U.S. Barnes & Noble Education will continue to be headquartered in Basking Ridge, N.J. In addition to Roberts continuing to lead the organization, Patrick Maloney and Barry Brover will serve as COO and CFO, respectively.