Barnes & Noble today announced it has reached a deal with Pearson to repurchase the company’s stake in Nook Media for $27.7 million. The agreement closely follows a simiar deal with Microsoft and will enable Barnes & Noble to eventually spin off its Nook business.

The company originally sold a five percent stake in Nook Media to Pearson about two years ago. At the time, Pearson paid $89.5 million.

Now that Barnes & Noble wholly owns Nook, there are few barriers to prevent the two entities from separating next year. Barnes & Noble’s Nook e-reader has long struggled to keep up with the likes of Amazon and Apple. Perhaps Nook will thrive as an independent company?

At the very least, the e-reader won’t be a thorn in Barnes & Noble’s side.

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Via: New York Times

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