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To: Bill Harmond who wrote (59398)	5/31/1999 11:56:00 PM
From: 16yearcycle	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 164684

Was this posted?: June 1, 1999 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- FTC Opposes Barnes & Noble On Buyout Bid for Ingram By PATRICK M. REILLY and JOHN R. WILKE Staff Reporters of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL WASHINGTON -- Federal Trade Commission officials will recommend that the agency oppose Barnes & Noble Inc.'s buyout of the industry's largest wholesaler, Ingram Book Group, saying it gives the combined company too much power over its competitors. Antitrust enforcers feared that Ingram could favor its proposed new owner over other retailers, people familiar with the agency-staff action said late Monday. The deal was strongly opposed by independent booksellers, and concerns were raised by rivals such as Amazon.com Inc., the leading online book merchant. The staff action isn't a final decision by the four-member commission, which must vote on whether to oppose the deal. But some deals come apart when faced with such regulatory opposition. Barnes & Noble had little to say Monday about the FTC review. "We've been working with the FTC over the last several months, cooperating with it, and providing additional information," spokeswoman Mary Ellen Keating said. The company had "no public comment on speculation," she said. Ingram executives also remain confident of approval. "If the facts of this transaction are viewed objectively, and within the context of the today's rapidly changing book marketplace, then we believe the commission will clear the way for this acquisition to take place," said Keel Hunt, a spokesman for parent Ingram Industries Inc., the massive wholesaler owned by the Ingram family of Nashville. Barnes & Noble's planned $600 million cash-and-stock purchase of the Ingram Book unit was announced in November. Barnes & Noble told regulators it intended to run Ingram Book as a separate company. But indeed, bookstore owners and industry groups feared that Barnes & Noble would glean from Ingram confidential information, such as sales volumes of rival booksellers, and rivals stoked these fears. Even yesterday, Bill Curry, Amazon.com spokesman, said, "When the nation's biggest retailer buys the nation's biggest wholesaler, it should be a concern to every bookseller." The deal drew storms of protest as soon as it was announced. Some industry executives thought Barnes & Noble's decision to acquire Ingram was a pre-emptive move to block an acquisition by Amazon. People close to Amazon.com say the Internet retailer did indeed study the possibility of buying Ingram, then passed. Mr. Curry, the Amazon spokesman, said the company has never publicly addressed the issue and had no comment now. Instead, Amazon has campaigned to build its own distribution centers and to diversify the number of suppliers it relies on.