Pershing Dumps B&N Stake
-- Publishers Weekly, 1/12/2009 8:24:00 AM
Pershing Square Capital Management has dumped its entire stake of Barnes & Noble stock, the private equity firm headed by William Ackerman said in a filing with the SEC Friday. At one point Pershing’s stake stood at 6.5 million shares, representing about an 11.8% stake in the bookstore chain. The move puts Ackerman’s entire focus on Borders--for which he remains the largest shareholder--and will likely fuel speculation that Ackerman is thinking of taking Borders private.
Pershing’s action came only a few days after Ron Burkle paid $67 million to acquire an 8.3% stake in B&N. Among Burkle’s other holdings is a 42% stake in Source Interlink, which distributes books, magazines and other media products to a wide variety of outlets, including bookstores and newstands.
