FTC Ends Waiting Period for Liberty Mutual Investment in Barnes and Noble

Posted on September 22, 2011

Barnes & Noble announced that it has cleared a key hurdle towards approval of the investment by Liberty Media. The FTC has terminated the waiting period under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act early. The Act requires that companies notify the FTC and the Justice Department before major mergers that could trigger antitrust allegations. The early termination means that the government isn't going to stop the investment.

Liberty Media invested $204 million in the bookseller. Under the terms of the deal, Liberty purchased preferred stock which is convertible into approximately 12 million shares or 16.6% of the Company's common stock at a price of $17 per share. Dividends will be paid quarterly at the rate of 7.75% per year.

In addition, Liberty gets to put two people on the the board of directors. That will expand the board to eleven members. The new board members are Gregory B. Maffei, the President and CEO of Liberty Media and Mark D. Carleton, Senior Vice President of Liberty.