Not Sold
by Bruce Dobie
Tennessee’s largest privately owned business, Ingram Industries, announced in November that it was selling off its wholesale book distribution company. The price: $600 million. The purchaser: book retailer Barnes & Noble.
Barnes & Noble is the nation’s largest seller of books. Ingram is the nation’s biggest book wholesaler. Both companies face the brave new frontier of book buying over the Internet, and have sought different strategies to succeed on the terms being laid out by such online booksellers as Amazon.com. When Barnes & Noble’s purchase of Ingram was proposed, it was widely viewed as the retail company finding a supplier for its own online bookselling efforts.
But the sale has hit a hurdle. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) must approve the agreement. And according to several published reports, the FTC staff thinks the merger violates antitrust law and has recommended the sale not take place. The decision will ultimately be made by the full commission itself.
The sale of Ingram has been opposed by independent booksellers and other small fish in the industry who fear being swallowed up by industry heavyweights. Despite the development, Ingram representatives remain upbeat.
”We are confident that if the transaction is viewed objectively and within the context of today’s rapidly changing book marketplace, the commission will clear the way for the acquisition to take place,“ said Keel Hunt, Ingram spokesman.
