“Physical bookstores the world over face fearsome challenges from online and digital, a complex array of difficulties that for ease and some evident reason we lay at the door of Amazon,” says Daunt. “Our purpose is to create, by investment and old-fashioned bookselling skill, bookshops good enough to be a pleasure in their own right and to have no equal as a place in which to choose a book. We counter thereby Amazon's siren call and defend the continued existence of real bookshops.”

Paul Best, portfolio manager and head of European private equity at Elliott, adds, “Our investment in Barnes & Noble, following our investment last year in Waterstones, demonstrates our conviction that readers continue to value the experience of a great bookstore.”

Barnes & Noble's board had unanimously approved the deal. Leonard Riggio, founder and chairman of Barnes & Noble, who had led the company for 54 years, says his company was pleased to have reached the agreement with Elliott. “In view of the success they have had in the bookselling marketplace, I believe they are uniquely suited to improve and grow our company for many years ahead,” he says. Promising to assist in a smooth transition, Riggio adds, “I am also confident that James Daunt has the leadership ability and experience necessary to lead this great organization.”

The New York Times had reported in recent years Barnes & Noble has been struggling with increasing foot traffic and sales and in making a profit. The newspaper noted the book retailer closed more than 150 stores in the last decade.