I read today's article in the WSJ on Barnes & Noble's latest acquisition with great interest. Let me share with you my observations in bold and how it relates to Repositioning & Corporate Development.
Barnes & Noble purchased Fictionwise for $15.7 million - seems a reasonable price to take out a leading player in one of the fastest growing publishing categories.
Amid the industry downturn Borders on Thursday said it is laying off 742 employees -
i.e. not only is Barnes & Noble acquiring a high growth niche, one of its competitors is going in a different direction.
The vendors decided to sell because "the business is exploding and we needed to partner with a corporation that could provide us with necessary firepower" - Brilliant, it makes the buyer look great, it makes the seller look great and it's a credible reason for selling, brilliant compelling story.
and there's more.................
Fictionwise will operate as an independent subsidiary -
think of the seller's staff reading this, great motivating point
Barnes & Noble even admit they got it wrong first time - in September 2003 they closed the online arm down because of lack of public interest - again brilliant honesty
And just to ram home the economics of online books - the article highlights customers are able to download best sellers for $9.99 compared to $25 in the bookstores.
Barnes & Noble purchased Fictionwise for $15.7 million - seems a reasonable price to take out a leading player in one of the fastest growing publishing categories.
Amid the industry downturn Borders on Thursday said it is laying off 742 employees -
i.e. not only is Barnes & Noble acquiring a high growth niche, one of its competitors is going in a different direction.
The vendors decided to sell because "the business is exploding and we needed to partner with a corporation that could provide us with necessary firepower" - Brilliant, it makes the buyer look great, it makes the seller look great and it's a credible reason for selling, brilliant compelling story.
and there's more.................
Fictionwise will operate as an independent subsidiary -
think of the seller's staff reading this, great motivating point
Barnes & Noble even admit they got it wrong first time - in September 2003 they closed the online arm down because of lack of public interest - again brilliant honesty
And just to ram home the economics of online books - the article highlights customers are able to download best sellers for $9.99 compared to $25 in the bookstores.
Lesson: audit the signals of your marketplace and continually check that your positioning and business models are still relevant.
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