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To: Bill Harmond who wrote (24844)	11/6/1998 10:13:00 PM
From: waldo	Respond to of 164685

Friday November 6, 9:53 pm Eastern Time Barnes & Noble Buys $600M Group By KARIN MILLER AP Business Writer NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) -- Barnes (NYSE:BKS - news) & Noble Inc. is buying the world's largest book distributor from Ingram Industries Inc. for $600 million. The move sparked an immediate protest from an organization representing independent bookstores. The American Booksellers Association raised anticompetitive questions in asking the U.S. Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission to investigate the acquisition of Ingram Book Group, which was announced Friday. The ABA said in a statement from Tarrytown, N.Y., that the deal ''threatens the viability of competition in the book industry, and limits the diversity and availability of books to consumers.'' The ABA says Nashville-based Ingram is a primary distribution source for the majority of its member stores. Calls to the FTC and Justice Department's antitrust division were not immediately returned. Barnes & Noble spokeswoman Mary Ellen Keating called the ABA's position ''at best another attempt to disparage our good reputation, and at worst is itself a manipulation designed to cause booksellers ... to act in concert against our company.'' Keating said the deal would allow Ingram to distribute a wider selection of titles, as well as allowing Barnes & Noble to deliver books faster and more cost-effectively. Danielle Fox, an analyst with J.P. Morgan, (NYSE:JPM - news) also did not see the proposed deal as a major threat to competition. ''While certainly consolidating the book industry, this in no way limits the diversity to consumers. As long as the consumer demands a wide range, the bookstores will sell them a wide range of books reflecting a diversity of opinion.'' The ABA said it has a pending antitrust lawsuit in San Francisco alleging Barnes & Noble has a ''longstanding, systematic strategy of driving independents out of business to stifle competition.'' Under the deal, Barnes & Noble will give Ingram $200 million in cash and $400 million in stock for the book distribution unit. Investors welcomed the news, pushing Barnes & Noble's stock up $3.37 1/2, or by 11 percent, to $34.25 a share on the New York Stock Exchange. Jeff Bezos, founder and chief executive officer of Amazon.com (Nasdaq:AMZN - news), another major on-line bookseller, did not seem fazed by the announcement. ''To our customers: Worry not,'' he said in a statement. ''Those who make choices that are genuinely good for customers, authors and publishers will prevail. Goliath is always in range of a good slingshot,'' Bezos said. Barnes & Noble, based in New York, operates 504 Barnes & Noble bookstores and 507 B. Dalton bookstores. Barnes & Noble plans to use Ingram Book to help accelerate growth of its on-line bookseller, barnesandnoble.com. Ingram Book Group, a subsidiary of privately held Ingram Industries of Nashville, distributes trade books, audio tapes, textbooks and specialty magazines through 11 distribution centers around the nation. It ships some 115 million titles every year. John R. Ingram, co-president of Ingram Industries Inc., will continue as chairman of Ingram Book Group and become a vice chairman of Barnes & Noble's board. The deal leaves Ingram Industries with its Ingram Barge Co., Ingram Materials Inc. and Permanent General Inc., an insurance business.