Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Technology Stocks : Amazon.com, Inc. (AMZN) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: OtherChap who wrote (24792)	11/6/1998 5:13:00 PM
From: llamaphlegm	Respond to of 164684

Enter Symbol: Symbol Lookup Quote News New! Chart Earnings Fundamentals Fund Profiles SEC Filings Research New! Stock Snapshot Co. Capsule Annual Reports INVESTools New! Choose and hit Go! Power Portfolios Tool Descriptions Other Services Baseline Reports INVESTools Mortgage Finder Card Finder Signal Online CBSMW Live Industry indexes News Index NewsWatch Earnings Surprises StockWatch LegalOptions Sports Biz Dollar volume Option Quotes Barnes & Noble to buy Ingram Book Bookseller pay $600 million for retail book distributor By Jeffry Bartash, CBS MarketWatch Last Update: 4:43 PM ET Nov 6, 1998 NewsWatch NEW YORK (CBS.MW) -- Barnes & Noble shares surged 11 percent Friday after the bookstore operator said it would buy Ingram Book Group for $600 million in cash and stock, stepping up its challenge to Amazon.com. Barnes & Noble rose 3 3/8 to 34 1/4. Amazon.com Inc., the online book and music seller (AMZN), fell 3 15/16, or 3 percent, to 124 9/16. The deal combines the biggest U.S. bookseller with the biggest U.S. retail book distributor. Barnes & Noble (BKS) said it will pay $200 million in cash and $400 million in stock. Also see Internet Daily. The company said in a statement that the acquisition of Ingram, a privately held unit of Nashville, Tenn.-based Ingram Industries Inc., will allow it to deliver books faster and more cheaply. More than 80 percent of Barnes & Noble's online and store customers will be within range of overnight deliveries of Ingram's 11 distribution centers, the bookseller said. Ironically, Ingram is the largest supplier of books to Amazon.com., which has sprung up since its founding in mid-1995 to become a full-blown challenger to traditional booksellers such as Barnes & Noble. After initially ignoring the Internet, Barnes & Noble is now playing catch-up to Amazon.com with Barnesandnoble.com, an online bookseller. In October, Bertelsmann AG, the world's third-largest media company, spent $200 million to acquire a 50 percent interest in Barnes & Noble's Internet subsidiary. The latest Barnes & Noble move is seen as a strong counterblow to Amazon.com. "It allows Barnes & Noble virtually to ship any book overnight. That's powerful," said Scott Appleby of ABN Amro. "It gives them a major advantage." Barnes & Noble's willingness to let Ingram continue its relationship with Amazon.com is not unexpected. Analysts say the company would likely face severe antitrust scrutiny if it cut off or tried to hamper Ingram's distribution agreement with other competitors. Ingram will continue to supply books to its current customers, "including independent bookstores, specialty retailers, and libraries, in the U.S. and abroad," the companies said. Amazon.com, in a press release, said the Barnes & Noble deal "undoubtedly will raise industry-wide concerns. Like other independent booksellers, we hope that Ingram resolves those concerns with a strong commitment to treating all bookstores fairly." While Amazon.com still plans to rely on Ingram as a distributor, it also said it continues to seek to diversify its supplier base and increase direct purchasing from publishers. "To our customers: Worry not," said Amazon.com CEO Jeff Bezos. "Those who make choices that are genuinely good for customers, authors and publishers will prevail. Goliath is always in range of a good slingshot." Barnes & Noble operates 504 bookstores under the company name and 507 more under the B. Dalton name