Ed here: I'm sure this kind of news seems like too much inside baseball to some of you but if the Riggios lose control over the direction of B&N we're likely to see some heavy duty changes in the company. From The New York Times.
September 20, 2010
Bookseller Has Setback in Struggle Over Board
By MICHAEL J. de la MERCED
Barnes & Noble sustained a setback on Monday when a powerful proxy advisory company endorsed directors proposed by the billionaire investor Ronald W. Burkle over the company’s own slate, which included its chairman, Leonard S. Riggio.
The endorsement by Institutional Shareholder Services could be crucial, coming just a week before the annual shareholder meeting on Sept. 28. Some large institutional investors are required to vote their shares in accordance with I.S.S.’s recommendations.
Barnes & Noble has been battling Mr. Burkle for nearly a year since his investment firm, Yucaipa, began rapidly accumulating the company’s shares. Barnes & Noble instituted a poison-pill plan intended to limit the size of Mr. Burkle’s holding; the plan was upheld by a Delaware Court of Chancery judge last month.
But Mr. Burkle appears to have won the latest round. In its 25-page report, Institutional Shareholder Services supported Mr. Burkle’s contention that Barnes & Noble’s corporate governance needed to be improved.
for the rest go here:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/21/business/21barnes.html
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