Activist investor Sandell presses for Barnes & Noble sale - WSJ

(Reuters) - Activist investor Sandell Asset Management Corp wants Barnes & Noble to try to sell itself again, saying the bookstore chain will benefit from a new owner, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday. Sandell has recently bought a stake in Barnes & Noble and is among its top 10 investors, the newspaper reported, citing people familiar with the matter. http://on.wsj.com/2uSwmEi Barnes & Noble could attract a bid of more than $12 (9.2 pounds) a share, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing a letter from Sandell. Based on Monday's closing share price of $7.10, Barnes & Noble's market value is about $515 million. John Malone's Liberty Media Corp proposed buying Barnes & Noble for $1.02 billion in 2011, but ended up investing in preferred shares it could convert into a stake later. In 2014, Liberty sold almost all its stake, ending a nearly three-year bet that the retailer would emerge as a dominant seller of e-books. http://reut.rs/2uUsEcY Barnes & Noble and Sandell were not immediately available for comment outside regular business hours. (Reporting by Parikshit Mishra in Bengaluru; Editing by Gopakumar Warrier)