Barnes & Noble Inc., the largest U.S. bookstore chain, is likely to end its months-long search for a buyer without a sale of the company, said five sources with knowledge of the bidding process.
Private-equity firms and strategic bidders have backed away from the auction, said the sources, who asked not to be identified because negotiations aren’t public. Interest from at least seven potential buyers waned after the first round of bidding, the sources said.
The auction isn’t over and will probably last a few more weeks before the company officially calls off the search, one source said.
Mary Ellen Keating, a spokeswoman for New York- based Barnes & Noble, said the process is still ongoing and declined to comment.
The chain, facing increasing competition as more people buy electronic readers such as Inc.’s Kindle, hired Lazard Ltd. last year to explore a possible sale.
Barnes & Noble makes the Nook e-reader, and some potential bidders balked at a purchase because of how long it may take the chain to generate more digital sales, two sources said.
