Nook Media is the Barnes & Noble subsidiary that develops and distributes Nook e-readers and associated digital content. The company spun out from Barnes & Noble earlier this year. It offers e-reading hardware and digital content aimed at consumer and educational customers. Pearson has entered a commercial partnership intended to improve the student reading and learning experience. Pearson invested $89.5M for a 5% stake, valuing the company post-money at $1.789 billion; Barnes & Noble owns 78.2% and Microsoft owns 16.8%. In a regulatory filing Nook Media said it expects holiday sales to fall below previous projections and plans to release holiday sales numbers on January 3. Nook Media manages Barnes & Noble’s Nook Digital software, content, and devices lineup together with the company’s college business. Its core product bundle includes e-reader hardware, software, and a digital bookstore aimed at distributing content across devices and services. Through a new strategic partnership with Microsoft, Nook plans to place its bookstore and content on Windows 8 devices to gain a foothold in the educational market and broaden reach. The company is targeting international expansion, has announced UK availability, and plans to enter ten additional markets next year, though it has not committed to shipping hardware in those markets. Operationally, the Nook business grew 38% in February while Barnes & Noble’s retail sales were flat year-over-year. Nook Media was spun out to enable the business to scale or operate independently while maintaining a long-term commercial relationship with Barnes & Noble, which will continue to sell and promote Nook products in its stores.

Total raised

$395M

Funding rounds

2

Latest round

Equity

Latest activity

Dec 2012