Fired CEO sues B&N: Soap Opera launched

[DuckieTigger]

Originally Posted by fjtorres

By the time they're done bleeding the company there may not be enough of a corpse to move on.

This is a bit old but telling:

https://www.fool.com/investing/2017/...d-survive.aspx

When dividends are 410% of free cash flow...

Soooooo, a last straw attempt to stay afloat a bit longer? As soon as dividends stop, stock gets dumped into market, hostile takeover, the end?

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by DuckieTigger

Soooooo, a last straw attempt to stay afloat a bit longer? As soon as dividends stop, stock gets dumped into market, hostile takeover, the end?

Hostile takeover? Those involve buying stock at a premium.
It would be cheaper to buy the bits and pieces at a court managed liquidation.

The last straw attempt may run longer than many expect.
I see a lot of folk betting on a collapse in a year or less but I think they might linger longer. 18 months is my bet.

Two more "disappointing" holiday seasons and three "CEOs" to go before the endgame.

[Fbone]

B&N releases their 10-Q report. A few interesting details popped out at me.

Sales by Product Line July,28,2018 (13-weeks):

Media (tangible books, music, movies, newsstand) 71%
Digital (Nook, accessories, eContent) 3%
Other (toys, gifts, cafe) 26%

Last years was 73%, 3%, 24% respectively.

There are $225 million dollars in unused gift cards. These are considered liabilities until used then they're listed as revenue. Issuances of $50 million and redemptions of $55 million during the quarter.

[Fbone]

B&N's trade name is valued as $293 million. As an intangible asset this is just on paper as goodwill.

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by Fbone

B&N's trade name is valued as $293 million. As an intangible asset this is just on paper as goodwill.

Take with a pound of salt:

http://www.globenewswire.com/news-re...-US-Drops.html

So, B&N is more "reputable" than every other company out there.
(Obviously their study predates the Parneros mess.)

Of course, "reputable" doesn't imply profitable.

Also, the company as a whole is valued at $440 Million.
So two thirds of their value is their reputation?
And they are pulling out $40M in dividends each year?

They really are close to the edge.

[AnemicOak]

In Counterclaim, B&N Says Former CEO 'Sabotaged' Sale; Sexually Harassed Multiple Women

In a legal filing, Barnes & Noble hit back at Demos Parneros, claiming the recently fired CEO actively sabotaged a potential sale of the company earlier this year, bullied fellow executives, and sexually harassed multiple women at the company. And raising the legal stakes, lawyers for B&N have filed a counterclaim, asking the court to order Parneros to pay damages for his alleged breach of fiduciary duties, and seeking to potentially claw back more than $1 million paid to Parneros “during the period of his disloyal conduct.”

The filing comes in response to Parneros’s bombshell breach of contract and defamation lawsuit, filed August 28, which alleges that B&N founder Len Riggio, irate over the collapse of a sale this summer to an unnamed book retailer, engineered Parneros’ firing so he could retake control of the company. In his suit, Parneros acknowledges that an unnamed book retailer withdrew a bid in June after completing due diligence, but claims “there was no suggestion that the failure of the deal was in any respect Parneros's fault.”

In a stunning claim, however, B&N lawyers now allege that Parneros didn’t just botch the sale of the company this past summer, but actively derailed it, "apparently in an effort to preserve his position as CEO." The filing portrays a reluctant, even defiant Parneros, interfering with and even undermining a months-long due diligence process, with things coming to a head at a disastrous June 18 meeting, which the purchaser had called in part to get a handle on a recent sales decline at B&N.

Full article...
https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/...ple-women.html

[fjtorres]

That narrative would fit any of the surviving soap operas.