Barnes & Noble and Microsoft have finally closed their deal to form a joint-venture that will contain all of Barnes & Noble’s Nook devices line and digital content, Barnes & Noble announced Thursday.
Called “Nook Media, LLC.” the joint-venture sees Microsoft investing $300 million in exchange for a 17.6 percent equity stake. The remainder of the company will be owned by Barnes & Noble, although an earlier filing stating that Morrison Investment Holdings would buy a $300,000 stake in the company.
The first product of the joint venture is a Nook app for Windows 8 devices, which will Barnes & Noble said was “imminent”. The pairing gives the struggling Barnes & Noble more ammo in its quest to transition from a bookseller to a digital content and device maker, and helps Microsoft re-enter the e-book business following the folding of its own prior e-book venture, Microsoft Reader, in 2011.
