Barnes & Noble Education, the new spin-off company operating the college bookstores, plans to acquire digital businesses to accelerate its growth rather than just growing organically.
Trading under BNED, Barnes & Noble Education had its IPO on Monday. The company’s CEO Max Roberts stated that BNED has a competitive advantage over Amazon and Chegg with its 724 on-campus bookstores and deep relationships with faculty.
There is also room for growth with 52% of schools still operating their own bookstores. The IPO also gives Barnes & Noble Education the opportunity for M&A. Before the separation from the parent company, BNED invested in FlashNotes, a study notes marketplace.
BNED’s main competitors for the on-campus and textbook business are Amazon and Chegg. While Chegg is in the midst of completing its transition to 100% digital revenue, Amazon opened its first on-campus pick-up location at Purdue university in February.
Further Reading
- Barnes & Noble Completes Spin-Off of Barnes & Noble Education | BusinessWire
- Being on site is our advantage vs. Amazon - BNED's Huseby | Reuters
- Barnes & Noble Education CEO on IPO: we have opportunity to do M&A | Yahoo Finance
- Barnes & Noble Education to Consider Digital Takeovers | Bloomberg