Time for Borders (BGP) and Barnes & Noble (BKS) to merge?

Posted Sep 2nd 2007 9:40AM by Zac Bissonnette
Filed under: Deals, Rumors

As Doug McIntyre recently pointed out on BloggingStocks, there's really no reason to assume that the success Whole Foods Market (NASDAQ: WFMI) had in consummating its acquisition of Wild Oats will have any effect on other deals.

But it's still fun to to speculate, and The Detroit News is doing just that: Is a merger of struggling book retailers Barnes & Noble Inc. (NYSE: BKS) and Borders Group Inc. (NYSE: BGP) on the way?

If so, there is only one category that such a merger could be classified under: Two drunken sailors trying to hold each other up. As for anti-trust concerns, how could consumers be effected by the merger of two companies that sell overpriced -- compared to Amazon.com (NASDAQ: AMZN) -- books at stores people don't go to anymore?

The Whole Foods deal was about a rapidly growing enterprise trying to expand its empire, and that one made it through the courts. It's hard to imagine regulators stopping the merger of two struggling companies in a contracting industry, even if they wanted to.

Whether such a deal would do anything to help shareholders of the combined entity remains to be seen, if such a deal does indeed come to pass.

Tags: Barnes and Noble, BKS, BN, Books, Borders, Doug McIntyre, featured, mergers, WFMI, Whole Foods

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

9-02-2007 @ 2:56PM

Coldshowerz said...

"that sell overpriced -- compared to Amazon.com (NASDAQ: AMZN) -- books at stores people don't go to anymore?"

You should get out more often - At least out here in Montgomery County, MD, the 5 local B&N and Borders stores I frequent are usually humming.

Also, if you are a member of the free Borders rewards program as I am, the weekly email coupons often undercut Amazon's prices. (I believe the same is true of the paid membership B&N program).

Disclosure - I don't own stock in either company - Just enjoy going to the stores and browsing the first few pages of books that I buy there. My kids, the same.