BAMM May be Acquired by Shareholders for $49 million

Books-A-Million

may be bought by its chairman and board members in a transaction valuing the bookseller at $49 million. The Anderson family, lead by Clyde B. Anderson, may purchase the Birmingham, Alab.-based company following a non-binding acquisition proposal announced this morning. Anderson and his family control 53% of Books-A-Million stock. Shareholders who are not part of the Anderson family would receive $3.05 per share, 20% more than Friday's closing price but below the 52-week high of $4.78. The company's management would be unchanged and there are no plans for reducing employees, according to a press release issued this morning. The acquisition would take the form of a merger with an acquisition vehicle owned by the Anderson family. Anderson encouraged the Board of Directors to establish a committee to review the proposal for the company's public shareholders. Last summer Books-A-Million acquired the leases for 14 Borders stores in Maine, Ohio, New Hampshire and New Jersey for $934,209 as the company was going through bankruptcy. The company earlier tried to acquire 30 locations. Books-A-Million reported a net loss of $2.5 million, or 16 cents per share, for fiscal year 2011 compared to a net income of $8.9 million or 57 cents per share a year earlier, the company in a press release issued in March. Books-A-Million spent $5.4 million closing 21 locations and opening 41 new locations in October and November. Books-A-Million will have to compete with bookseller Barnes and Noble

which received a $300 million infusion of cash from Microsoft

to grow its digital book and college text book business, the companies announced this morning. The nook application will be included in Windows 8 computers, which are scheduled to preview in June.