By Jeffrey A. Trachtenberg and Ben Dummett

Hedge fund Elliott Investment Management is considering taking bookseller Barnes & Noble and U.K. book chain Waterstones public, according to people familiar with the matter.

The public offering could come as early as the second half of next year with a potential listing either in London or New York, the people said.

Elliott is talking with banks about the idea of an initial public offering but hasn't chosen an underwriting syndicate, the people said. It also hasn't committed itself to making such an offering next year.

The listing would underscore the continued viability of neighborhood bookstores despite the strength of Amazon.com and the increasing popularity of streaming shows and podcasts competing with books for consumers' attention.

Elliott bought Barnes & Noble in 2019 in a deal valued at $683 million, including the assumption of debt. At the time, the retailer was struggling to attract shoppers. It reported a loss of $125.5 million on revenue of $3.7 billion for the fiscal year ended April 2018. Same-store sales, a key indicator, were down more than 5%.

Elliott bought Waterstones in 2018 in a deal valued at roughly $279 million. At the time, Waterstones had 238 bookstores, mostly in the U.K. and Ireland.

Both bookstore chains are the largest in their respective countries -- and have been growing. Barnes & Noble today has 702 stores, including more than 60 that were opened this year, up from 627 when Elliott took over. It also operates 72 Paper Source stationery and gift stores.

Waterstones now has more than 290 locations across the U.K., Ireland and Europe, according to its website.

News of the potential public offering was earlier reported by the Financial Times.

Both Barnes & Noble and Waterstones are managed by James Daunt, a veteran bookseller who also owns London-based Daunt Books. Daunt set out to remake Barnes & Noble's culture by giving local bookstore managers responsibility for how their stores look and perform rather than the traditional chain-store approach that valued uniformity.

Daunt said in an interview with The Wall Street Journal that 2025 has been a strong year for the U.S. bookstore chain. He also said Barnes & Noble and Waterstones are already working closely together.

"We're leveraging the respective strengths of the two businesses to improve each," he said. Examples include common bookseller training and development, as well as using the same customer service software.

"The reason Barnes & Noble has rebounded from a very difficult period in just a few years has to do with James Daunt," said Bradley Graham, co-owner of Politics and Prose bookstores in Washington, D.C. "He came with a philosophy of letting bookstores reflect their local communities."

Graham added that Barnes & Noble has also cut costs -- and once again represents a competitive threat.

"What we want is for Barnes & Noble to be healthy," he said, "But not too aggressive in their expansion."

Write to Jeffrey A. Trachtenberg at Jeffrey.Trachtenberg@wsj.com and Ben Dummett at ben.dummett@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

December 18, 2025 14:09 ET (19:09 GMT)

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