Microsoft has been hovering over Nook Media and Barnes & Noble for a while now. The two parties had a patent lawsuit problem, then Microsoft put some money on the table and now they want to spend even more to acquire them. Hostile takeover anyone?
Anyway, MS has brought the big guns, since they may be considering a $1 billion purchase of Nook Media LLC’s digital assets. This includes ebook and e-readers among others and it appears that Tech Crunch already has internal documents regarding this situation. The documents say that the Nook slate business will be in the toilet by the end of next year.
Microsoft already invested $300 million in a partnership with B&N in order to form a subsidiary. Then they denied all rumors about a Windows RT tablet and now we get this buyout speculation. Is there really such a desperate need for the Nook at Microsoft? Can’t they fail with their own e-readers?
