Microsoft, Barnes & Noble settle litigation, form massive new partnership

This morning, Microsoft announced a new partnership with Barnes & Noble for their eReader business having settled the previous litigation on claimed patent infringement.

The new subsidiary of Barnes & Noble called Newco (not the real proper name, just a placeholder to be determined later on) will focus on the digital and college business of the visitor. Microsoft is investing $300 million into the venture and will maintain a 17.6% equity stake in the new company.

Of course information technology should come as no surprise that a NOOK eReader volition exist one of the first priorities of the nw partnership with a client for Windows 8 in the works. Barnes & Noble commented on the newly announced bargain noting:

"The germination of Newco and our relationship with Microsoft are important parts of our strategy to capitalize on the rapid growth of the NOOK business organisation, and to solidify our position as a leader in the exploding market for digital content in the consumer and instruction segments," said William Lynch, CEO of Barnes & Noble. "Microsoft's investment in Newco, and our exciting collaboration to bring earth-class digital reading technologies and content to the Windows platform and its hundreds of millions of users, will allow us to significantly expand the concern."

Although lots of pundits like to criticize Microsoft for "patent trolling" others would merits that the company is looking out for their shareholder'southward involvement by defending what they see as their intellectual property. Despite this, some saw in B&N as standing upwardly to Microsoft, fighting them publicly in the matter. Instead, B&N made a deal with the devil perhaps even angering Google along the way (Android powers the new Nook eReader).

Either way, Microsoft's strategy seems to be paying off for although B&Northward does not have to acknowledge any guilt for the claimed violations, they conspicuously were forced to the table for what looks to be an exciting deal for both companies. In fact, this could be the lifeline the fading book retailer needs in its life and decease struggle with adversary Amazon.com.

No mention of a Windows Phone client has been announced which has been missing since Windows Mobile and the HTC HD2. Still, rumors advise that Windows 8 and Windows Phone viii are based on the same kernel and have large amounts of overlapping code. As a result the proclamation of a Windows viii client may in fact be a dual one for Windows Telephone.

Regardless, you can imagine B&Northward volition be getting some favorable treatment from Microsoft in the future. Something that Apple tree and Google will have problem in matching. For this, we' very excited by this deal (even if nosotros're Kindle fans hither).

Full press release after the break...

Barnes & Noble and Microsoft Form Strategic Partnership to Advance World-Class Digital Reading Experiences for Consumers
Apr 30, 2022
Newly Formed Subsidiary to Include NOOK® Digital and Higher Businesses.

New York, NY and Redmond, WA (April 30, 2022) – Barnes & Noble Inc. (NYSE: BKS) and Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) today announced the formation of a strategic partnership in a new Barnes & Noble subsidiary, which volition build upon the history of strong innovation in digital reading technologies from both companies. The partnership will accelerate the transition to e-reading, which is revolutionizing the manner people swallow, create, share and enjoy digital content.

The new subsidiary, referred to in this release equally Newco, volition bring together the digital and College businesses of Barnes & Noble. Microsoft will make a $300 million investment in Newco at a post-money valuation of $one.7 billion in commutation for an approximately 17.6% disinterestedness stake. Barnes & Noble volition own approximately 82.4% of the new subsidiary, which will have an ongoing relationship with the company'due south retail stores. Barnes & Noble has not yet decided on the name of Newco.

Ane of the commencement benefits for customers will exist a NOOK application for Windows viii, which will extend the reach of Barnes & Noble's digital bookstore by providing one of the world's largest digital catalogues of e-Books, magazines and newspapers to hundreds of millions of Windows customers in the U.S. and internationally.

The inclusion of Barnes & Noble's College business organization is an important component of Newco's strategic vision. Through the newly formed Newco, Barnes & Noble's manufacture leading NOOK Study software volition provide students and educators the preeminent technology platform for the distribution and management of digital education materials in the market place.

"The formation of Newco and our human relationship with Microsoft are important parts of our strategy to capitalize on the rapid growth of the NOOK business, and to solidify our position every bit a leader in the exploding market for digital content in the consumer and education segments," said William Lynch, CEO of Barnes & Noble. "Microsoft'due south investment in Newco, and our exciting collaboration to bring world-form digital reading technologies and content to the Windows platform and its hundreds of millions of users, volition allow u.s.a. to significantly expand the business."

"The shift to digital is putting the world'due south libraries and newsstands in the palm of every person's hand, and is the beginning of a journey that volition impact how people read, interact with, and savour new forms of content," said Andy Lees, President at Microsoft. "Our complementary assets will advance eastward-reading innovation across a broad range of Windows devices, enabling people to not just read stories, but to be part of them. Nosotros're at the cusp of a revolution in reading."

Barnes & Noble and Microsoft have settled their patent litigation, and moving forwards, Barnes & Noble and Newco will have a royalty-begetting license under Microsoft'due south patents for its NOOK eReader and Tablet products. This paves the fashion for both companies to interact and reach a broader set up of customers.

Newco

On January 5, Barnes & Noble appear that it was exploring the strategic separation of its digital business in order to maximize shareholder value. Barnes & Noble is actively engaged in the formation of Newco, which will include Barnes & Noble's digital and College businesses. The company intends to explore all alternatives for how a strategic separation of Newco may occur. There can be no assurance that the review will result in a strategic separation or the creation of a stand up-lonely public company, and there is no set timetable for this review. Barnes & Noble does not intend to comment further regarding the review unless and until a decision is fabricated.

Additional data will be independent in a Current Report on Course 8-K to be filed by Barnes & Noble.

Barnes & Noble and Microsoft volition host an investor call and webcast showtime at 8:30 A.M. ET on Monday, April 30, 2022. To bring together the webcast, please visit: www.barnesandnobleinc.com/webcasts.

Media Contacts

For Barnes & Noble:

Mary Ellen Keating, Senior Vice President, Corporate Communications

Barnes & Noble, Inc.

(212) 633-3323 mkeating@bn.com

For Microsoft:

Rapid Response Squad

Waggener Edstrom Worldwide

(503) 443-7070 rrt@waggeneredstrom.com

Investor Contact

For Barnes & Noble:

Andy Milevoj, Manager of Investor Relations

Barnes & Noble, Inc.

(212) 633-3489 amilevoj@bn.com

Nearly Barnes & Noble, Inc.

Barnes & Noble, Inc. (NYSE:BKS), the globe's largest bookseller and a Fortune 500 visitor, operates 691 bookstores in 50 states. Barnes & Noble College Booksellers, LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Barnes & Noble, as well operates 641 college bookstores serving over 4.6 million students and faculty members at colleges and universities beyond the United States.  Barnes & Noble conducts its online business through BN.com (www.bn.com), 1 of the Web'due south largest e-commerce sites, which also features more than two one thousand thousand titles in its NOOK Bookstore™ (www.bn.com/ebooks). Through Barnes & Noble's NOOK™ eReading product offering, customers can buy and read digital books and content on the widest range of platforms, including NOOK devices, partner company products, and the most pop mobile and calculating devices using free NOOK software. Barnes & Noble is proud to exist named a J.D. Ability and Associated 2022 Customer Service Champion and is merely ane of l U.S. companies then named.

General information on Barnes & Noble, Inc. can be obtained via the Net by visiting the company's corporate website: www.barnesandnobleinc.com.

NOOK®, NOOK Tablet™, NOOK Simple Impact with GlowLight™ , NOOK Unproblematic Touch ™, NOOK Color™, Reader'south Tablet™, All-time-Text™, NOOK Store™, NOOK Bookstore™,NOOK Magazines™, VividView™, NOOK Newspapers™, FREE NOOK Reading Apps™, NOOK Kids™,NOOK Digital Store™, Read In Store™,More In Store™,LendMe®,NOOK Library™,NOOK Books en español™, NOOK Study™, Lifetime Library™ and Read What Y'all Love. Anywhere You Like™are trademarks of Barnes & Noble, Inc. Other trademarks referenced in this release are the belongings of their respective owners.

Follow Barnes & Noble on Twitter (www.bn.com/twitter), Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/barnesandnoble) and YouTube (http://world wide web.youtube.com/user/bnstudio).

About Microsoft

Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq "MSFT") is the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that assistance people and businesses realize their full potential.

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Source: https://www.windowscentral.com/microsoft-barnes-noble-settle-litigation-form-massive-new-partnership

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