UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
SCHEDULE 14A
(RULE 14a-101)
SCHEDULE 14A INFORMATION
Proxy Statement Pursuant to Section 14(a) of the
Securities Exchange Act of 1934
(Amendment No. )
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¨ | Preliminary Proxy Statement |
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¨ | Definitive Proxy Statement |
x | Definitive Additional Materials |
¨ | Soliciting Material Pursuant to § 240.14a-12 |
Barnes & Noble, Inc.
(Name of Registrant as Specified In Its Charter)
(Name of Person(s) Filing Proxy Statement, if other than the Registrant)
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x | No fee required |
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Media Contact: Mary Ellen Keating Senior Vice President Corporate Communications Barnes & Noble, Inc. (212) 633-3323 mkeating@bn.com |
Investor Contacts: Joseph J. Lombardi Chief Financial Officer Barnes & Noble, Inc. (212) 633-3215 jlombardi@bn.com
Andy Milevoj Director of Investor Relations Barnes & Noble, Inc. (212) 633-3489 amilevoj@bn.com |
BARNES & NOBLE RESPONDS TO YUCAIPAS MISLEADING PRESS RELEASE
New York, NY (September 24, 2010) Barnes & Noble, Inc. (NYSE: BKS), the worlds largest bookseller, today issued the following statement regarding a misleading press release issued earlier today by The Yucaipa Companies:
Barnes & Noble has distributed materials from Yucaipa to its employees in full compliance with all regulatory requirements. Voting instructions supplied by both sides were distributed to employees by the Company. We have no intention of sending Burkles insulting and misleading letter to our people. As for the letter itself, Burkles shameless attempts to reinvent himself are contradicted by his long public record of shareholder abuse and vindictive litigation even against his own family. His latest smear proves only that he will stop at nothing in his continuing efforts to distract people from what we believe is his real agenda gaining control of Barnes & Noble without paying a premium to other shareholders.
The Barnes & Noble Board of Directors urges that shareholders vote the WHITE proxy card FOR Barnes & Nobles three highly qualified nominees and AGAINST a shareholder proposal submitted by The Yucaipa Companies, to amend the Companys Shareholder Rights Plan. Barnes & Noble strongly urges shareholders to discard any gold proxy card sent by Mr. Burkle or Yucaipa.
Important Information and Certain Information Regarding Participants
On August 25, 2010, Barnes & Noble, Inc. (Barnes & Noble) filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the SEC) a definitive proxy statement in connection with its 2010 Annual Meeting and has mailed the definitive proxy statement to its stockholders. The definitive proxy statement contains information regarding the names, affiliations and interests of Barnes & Nobles directors, its director nominees and certain of its officers that may be deemed, along with Barnes & Noble, to be participants in the solicitation of Barnes & Nobles stockholders in connection with its 2010 Annual Meeting. Security holders are urged to read the definitive proxy statement and any other relevant documents filed with the SEC when they become available, because they contain (or will contain)
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important information. Security holders may obtain a free copy of the definitive proxy statement and other documents (when available) that Barnes & Noble files with the SEC at the SECs website at www.sec.gov, at Barnes & Nobles website at www.barnesandnobleinc.com and from Barnes & Noble by directing a request to Barnes & Noble, Inc., Attention: Investor Relations, 122 Fifth Avenue, New York, New York 10011.
Safe Harbor
This communication contains forward-looking statements. Barnes & Noble is including this statement for the express purpose of availing itself of the protections of the safe harbor provided by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 with respect to all such forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are based on currently available information and represent the beliefs of the management of the company. These statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially. These risks include, but are not limited to, general economic and market conditions, decreased consumer demand for the companys products, possible disruptions in the companys computer systems, telephone systems or supply chain, possible risks associated with data privacy and information security, possible work stoppages or increases in labor costs, possible increases in shipping rates or interruptions in shipping service, effects of competition, possible disruptions or delays in the opening of new stores or the inability to obtain suitable sites for new stores, higher than anticipated store closing or relocation costs, higher interest rates, the performance of the companys online, digital and other initiatives, the performance and successful integration of acquired businesses, the success of the companys strategic investments, unanticipated increases in merchandise, component or occupancy costs, unanticipated adverse litigation results or effects, the results or effects of any governmental review of the companys stock option practices, product and component shortages, effects of the companys evaluation of strategic alternatives and other factors which may be outside of the companys control. Please refer to the companys annual, quarterly and periodic reports on file with the SEC for a more detailed discussion of these and other risks that could cause results to differ materially. The company assumes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements.
Permission to use quotes neither sought nor obtained.
ABOUT BARNES & NOBLE, INC.
Barnes & Noble, Inc. (NYSE: BKS), the worlds largest bookseller and a Fortune 500 company, operates 717 bookstores in 50 states. Barnes & Noble College Booksellers, LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Barnes & Noble, also operates 633 college bookstores serving nearly 4 million students and faculty members at colleges and universities across the United States. Barnes & Noble is the nations top bookseller brand for the seventh year in a row, as determined by a combination of the brands performance on familiarity, quality, and purchase intent; the top bookseller in quality for the second year in a row and the number two retailer in trust, according to the EquiTrend® Brand Study by Harris Interactive®. Barnes & Noble conducts its online business through Barnes & Noble.com (www.bn.com), one of the Webs largest e-commerce sites, which also features more than one million titles in its eBookstore (www.bn.com/ebooks). Through Barnes & Nobles NOOKTM eReading product
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offering, customers can buy and read eBooks on the widest range of platforms, including NOOK eBook Readers, devices from partner companies, and hundreds of the most popular mobile and computing devices using free NOOK software.
General information on Barnes & Noble, Inc. can be obtained via the Internet by visiting the companys corporate website: www.barnesandnobleinc.com.
NOOK, NOOKstudy, LendMe, Read In Store, More In Store and Lifetime Library are trademarks of Barnes & Noble, Inc.
Other trademarks referenced in this release are the property of their respective owners.
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