Leave it up to Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) to help kick off the week with an interesting story. The computer giant is making a significant $300 million investment in Barnes & Noble's (NYSE: BKS) digital-book business and college texts units. It's a fascinating move that helps value the Nook business, but also provides some direction about MSFT's ambitions for the year.
That investment will give Microsoft a 17.6% stake in a new "Nook" subsidiary that will, in turn, value it at $1.7 billion. Compare that to BKS's current valuation of roughly $791 million, and it seems obvious that BKS's digital business could soon be separated from its retail business.
Continue reading this story at Benzinga.com