Business

Barnes & Noble rises on speculation of purchase by Liberty Media

Posted November 10, 2011 11:00 pm

Bloomberg News

Barnes & Noble Inc., the largest U.S. bookstore chain, rose to the highest in almost three months on speculation that Liberty Media Corp. may buy the rest of the retailer.

Liberty may be setting up a $1.5 billion credit facility to help fund a purchase of Barnes & Noble, Robert Routh, a New York-based analyst for Phoenix Partners Group, wrote in a research note today.

Liberty, based in Englewood, Colorado, and controlled by billionaire John Malone, invested $204 million in the New York- based book retailer in August after dropping its offer to acquire the chain.

Barnes & Noble gained 4.6 percent to $15.80 at 11:02 a.m. in New York, after rising to $16.17 for the highest intraday price since Aug. 12. The shares advanced 26 percent from Nov. 8, when Liberty posted third-quarter results, through yesterday.

Mary Ellen Keating, a spokeswoman for Barnes & Noble, didn’t respond immediately to a request for comment.

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