Update: 2:12pm:
Since we posted this story we found this analysis piece by Sarah Weinman of Daily Finance News. She also calls the notion that Borders Books could buy Barnes & Noble a story that has "entertainment value" not much more. Weinman says of Borders Books:
"If a merger was its plan for saving itself, expect B&N's rejection of the deal to accelerate its downward spiral -- an end that, sadly for the publishing industry, is likely to come sooner rather than later."
10:11am:
A publishing industry analyst describes a proposal by Ann Arbor-based Borders Books shareholders to buy rival Barnes & Noble as ‘bonkers’.
The shareholders announced today that they would be willing to pay $16 a share to takeover Barnes and Noble. That means the total takeover bid would cost nearly a billion dollars.
Michael Norris is a publishing trade analyst with Simba Information. He’s skeptical.
"The thing is this proposed merger is complete bonkers."
Norris compares the takeover idea to ‘the goldfish swallowing the whale’.
Both Borders and Barnes & Noble have been struggling financially as book sales have sagged and e-book sales have not taken off as hoped.
