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Non-Tech : Barnes & Noble (BKS) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Tom Hua who wrote (775)	4/19/1999 8:24:00 PM
From: Steve Smith	Respond to of 1691

investoroutlook.com <<Well, it seems that our favorite internet darling, Amazon.com, is being confronted yet again with a new threat in the name of Barnes & Noble. Their continued struggles appear frighteningly similar to the notorious feud of Internet heavyweights Microsoft and Netscape. Barnes and Noble began the bout with their first lawsuit filed against rival Amazon.com back in May of 1997, coincidentally right in time for Amazon's IPO. Their suit insisted that Amazon.com be forced to stop running ads claiming themselves to be "The Earth's Biggest Bookstore," as well as issue corrective ads. Seems big-bookseller B&N had a few feathers ruffled, its suit noting that "there is no book that Amazon can obtain which Barnes & Noble cannot." Following suit and fighting back, Amazon.com countered with a suit of their own in August 1997. Their federal lawsuit alleged that Barnes and Noble's was improperly failing to charge sales tax on books sold via their online store. Amazon's claim was that in undermining the tax laws, Barnes and Noble was able to sell their books at an unfair price advantage. The lawsuits were later settled out of court, with neither party admitting liability of any type, nor paying damages to the other. The parties simply decided that they would rather compete in the marketplace than in the courtroom. And now, in a quarter generously peppered with high-flying net IPOs, barnesandnoble.com (BNBN) has officially thrown their own hat into the ring. After long months of ballyhoo and hoopla since its September 1998 SEC filing, the spin-off from the brick-and-mortar chain bookseller is finally set to launch. Back when Barnes & Noble originally filed with the SEC in September, their intention was to raise $100 million in an offering. Just a month later, the offering was temporarily postponed, due to German media giant Bertelsmann AG acquiring a 50 percent stake in the unit for $200 million. Their IPO was then expected to go forward immediately after the New Year. The cause for the delay is anyone's guess. Current plans for the revival of barnesandnoble.com's IPO are to double the original IPO size to $200 million. The doubling of its offering shares is explained as an attempt to keep up with its well-entrenched rival Amazon.com. With that said, the online bookseller intends to spend the majority of the offering's money on advertising to lure new customers, mayhaps hoping to lead many away from the leader Amazon.com. With a 50% buyout worth $200 million, in addition to selling to the public over twice as much as the original $100 million offering, it would seem the online bookseller has much lost time and name recognition to make up for. Barnes and Noble launched its website in May 1997, with current unique visitors totalling 3.5 million, making it the sixth-largest e-commerce site, according to Media Metrix. Amazon.com, on the other hand, currently generates nearly 9 million unique visitors, occupying the third most trafficked e-commerce site. However, as is the case with many e-tailers, both online booksellers are still operating at a loss. barnesandnoble.com makes no pains to be distinct from their online rival Amazon.com. As Amazon continues to morph itself into an all inclusive e-tailer of a variety of products, so does B&N who intend to extend themselves into the video, music and software business as well. In addition, following in Amazon's footsteps as well, Barnes and Noble launched an affiliate program in September of 1997, offering affiliates commission fees of 5-7% for sales via their website. Amazon.com initiated this practice back in July of 1996, offering a much more appealing 5-15% commission fee. Amazon.com may have an advantage over their online rival barnesandnoble.com, with their years of branding and customer loyalty. However, with a current share price of close to $200, many investors have missed out on the boat. Amazon's stock price continues to rise, mayhaps offering the investor more risk than reward. Despite the lengthy delay of its IPO, barnesandnoble.com will no doubt reap a lofty valuation that could see a new IPO record high set on its first day of trade. Investors in search of the one that got away, will no doubt see visions of Amazon.com under a new ticker symbol. Only time will tell. If you've never invested on an IPOs first day of trade, please refer to the following article before throwing your hard earned pennies in the fountain.>>