Barnes & Noble Inc.'s founder and largest shareholder
Leonard Riggio may have closed the book on deal rumors,
according
to Deal Journal. Evidently, Riggio bought $11 million worth of stock last
week, boosting his stake to more than 24% of the company. Deal Journal
concluded:
It likely means he isn’t in the midst of negotiating the
leveraged buyout that many investors had been hoping for earlier in the
year. Or working on a combination with rival Borders Group, which also has
been much speculated on lately. Both possibilities would be expected to
light a fire under the shares, and any chairman of a company accumulating
stock ahead of such a deal announcement could get the SEC’s insider-trading
rulebook thrown at him.
And that certainly wouldn’t be a story book ending.
—Matthew Wurtzel
See
story from Deal Journal
See
related story from November 2006 from TheDeal.com
Continue reading below
