On Thursday, Barnes & Noble, Inc. and Microsoft announced the completion of their previously announced strategic partnership in a recently formed Barnes & Noble subsidiary and a leader in the emerging digital reading and digital education markets, NOOK Media LLC.

To the hundreds of millions of customers businesses jointly serve, Microsoft and Barnes & Noble’s strategic partnership in NOOK Media LLC will enable the companies to advance world-class digital reading experiences.


Image via www.barnesandnoble.com

Comprising the digital and College businesses of Barnes & Noble, NOOK Media LLC will continue to have a very close and mutually beneficial relationship with Barnes & Noble’s retail stores. The partnership includes a $300 million investment from Microsoft in NOOK Media LLC.

William Lynch, CEO of Barnes & Noble stated that due to the continually increasing demand for digital content, they are focused on bringing ground-breaking reading and learning content and technologies to more people in more formats than ever before which includes the imminent launch of its exceptional NOOK reading application for Windows 8.

“We look forward to working closely with our new partner Microsoft to add value to their innovative new platform by bringing great reading experiences and one of the world’s preeminent digital bookstores to millions of Windows 8 users,” added Lynch.

With Barnes & Noble owning the remaining shares and at a post-money valuation of $1.7 billion in exchange for an approximately 17.6 percent equity stake, Microsoft made its $300 million investment in NOOK Media LLC.

For its investment in NOOK Media LLC and as previously announced, there is no set timetable for Barnes & Noble’s review of strategic options. Whether the review will result in a strategic separation or the creation of a stand-alone public company cannot be guaranteed. Regarding the review, unless and until a decision is made, Barnes & Noble does not intend to comment further.