Best-of-Breed Omnichannel Merchandising
Partnership Includes Strategic Equity Investment in BNED
BNED Gets Unparalleled Product Assortment,
eCommerce Capabilities and Powerful Digital Marketing Tools to
Drive Increased Value for Customers and Accelerate Growth of its
High Margin Business
Barnes & Noble Education, Inc. (NYSE: BNED), a leading
solutions provider for the education industry, today announced it
has entered into a long-term strategic omnichannel merchandising
partnership with Fanatics and Lids, the two online and offline
leaders in the licensed sports and emblematic merchandise
category.
Fanatics’ cutting-edge e-commerce and technology expertise will
offer BNED campus stores expanded product selection, a world-class
online and mobile experience, and a progressive direct-to-consumer
platform. Coupled with Lids, the leading standalone brick and
mortar retailer focused exclusively on licensed fan and alumni
products, BNC and its campus stores will have improved access to
trend and sales performance data on licensees, product styles, and
design treatments from more than 1,200 Lids stores.
Under the terms of the agreement, Fanatics and Lids will jointly
make a $15 million strategic equity investment in BNED and receive
2,307,692 common shares of BNED in exchange, representing a share
price of $6.50 per share. BNED expects to use these proceeds to
further bolster its strategic growth initiatives.
BNC will maintain its relationships with campus partners and
remain responsible for staffing and managing the day-to-day
operations of its campus bookstores. It will also work closely with
its campus partners to ensure that each BNC campus store will
maintain unique aspects of in-store merchandising, including
localized product assortments and specific styles and designs that
reflect each campus’s brand. BNED will leverage Fanatics’
operational management of the emblematic merchandise and gift
sections of BNC campus store web sites. Lids will manage in-store
assortment planning and merchandising of emblematic apparel,
headwear, and gift products for BNC partner campus stores.
“We are thrilled to partner with Fanatics and Lids to bring a
best-of-breed retail and e-commerce experience to our schools,
students and customers,” said Michael P. Huseby, Chief Executive
Officer and Chairman, BNED. “This partnership has tremendous
potential to improve the customer experience, increase selection
and accelerate BNED’s growth across our high-margin general
merchandise business, particularly in e-commerce, providing a
significant opportunity to increase our financial contribution to
campus partners. We will continue to do what BNED does best, and
benefit from Fanatics’ and Lids’ strengths in e-commerce and
merchandising to drive even more value for our campus partners. We
will also be able to leverage a large and growing e-commerce
platform to better cross-sell products and increase our market
share, while realizing key technology and supply chain
efficiencies. In addition to driving value for our shareholders and
providing BNED additional liquidity to invest in growth, this
alliance will help our university partners tailor their product
offerings to better meet students’ needs.”
“We look forward to partnering with BNED and Lids to bring our
revolutionary approach to the licensed sports business to hundreds
of universities across the country,” said Michael Rubin, Executive
Chairman of Fanatics. “Looking ahead, we are eager to leverage our
e-commerce expertise and channel leadership in licensed merchandise
to enhance the consumer experience across BNED’s campus stores,
while driving growth and revenue for both BNED and its school
partners. We are confident that this alliance will be a key
differentiator in the education market, with our combined
connectivity helping to drive new BNED campus partnerships to the
benefit of students, faculty, and educational institutions.”
A company that has transformed both college and licensed sports
commerce, Fanatics has been named as one of Fast Company Magazine’s
“Most Innovative Companies” for three consecutive years. Fanatics,
the top ranked provider of collegiate merchandise since 2018, has
existing partnerships with more than 150 universities to operate
e-commerce and mobile store sites, and more broadly sells college
merchandise for more than 500 colleges and universities on its
flagship online shop, Fanatics.com. Lids operates more than 1,200
brick and mortar retail stores across North America, including
flagship retail partnerships for branded store experiences with
Macy’s and both the New York Yankees and Los Angeles Dodgers.
Lawrence Berger, Chairman of Lids said, “Our team is excited to
partner with BNED to bring innovative new products and marketing to
its college partners, while maintaining the distinct local product
assortments that make BNED campus shops so unique. Understanding
the affinities of alumni, fans, and students is core to our success
and aligning with BNED and its campus partners is an exciting new
chapter for higher education.”
ABOUT BARNES & NOBLE EDUCATION, INC. Barnes &
Noble Education, Inc. (NYSE: BNED) is a solutions provider for the
education industry, driving affordability, access and achievement
at hundreds of academic institutions nationwide and ensuring
millions of students are equipped for success in the classroom and
beyond. Through its family of brands, BNED offers campus retail
services and academic solutions, a digital direct-to-student
learning ecosystem, wholesale capabilities and more. BNED is a
company serving all who work to elevate their lives through
education, supporting students, faculty and institutions as they
make tomorrow a better, more inclusive and smarter world. For more
information, visit www.bned.com.
ABOUT FANATICS As the global leader in licensed sports
merchandise, Fanatics is changing the way fans purchase their
favorite team apparel, jerseys, headwear and hardgoods through an
innovative, tech-infused approach to making and selling fan gear in
today's on-demand, mobile-first culture. Operating multi-channel
commerce for the world's biggest sports brands, Fanatics offers the
largest collection of timeless and timely merchandise whether
shopping online, on your phone, in flagship stores, in stadiums or
on-site at the world's biggest sporting events. Fanatics comprises
the broadest omnichannel assortment by offering hundreds of
thousands of officially licensed items across its Fanatics,
FansEdge, Kitbag, Majestic, Top of the World and WinCraft brands,
as well as the largest selection of sports collectibles and
memorabilia through Fanatics Authentic.
ABOUT LIDS Lids Sports Group is the largest licensed
sports retailer in North America, selling fan and fashion-oriented
headwear and apparel across the United States, Canada and Puerto
Rico through more than 1,200 retail locations. Indianapolis-based
Lids Sports Group carries officially-licensed and branded gear
aimed at empowering customers to represent their unique and
individual style, team, passion and fun. Lids Sports Group operates
stores under the Lids, Locker Room by Lids, Fanzz, Yankees
Clubhouse Shops, Dodgers Clubhouse, Cardinals Clubhouse, and
numerous other nameplates. Lids also has locations within select
Macy's department stores nationwide. To find a retail location near
you visit blog.lids.com or join the #LidsLoyal on Instagram
(@lids), Facebook (@lids), Twitter (@lids), or LinkedIn.
Forward-Looking Statements This press release contains
certain “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the
Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and information
relating to us and our business that are based on the beliefs of
our management as well as assumptions made by and information
currently available to our management. When used in this
communication, the words “anticipate,” “believe,” “estimate,”
“expect,” “intend,” “plan,” “will,” “forecasts,” “projections,” and
similar expressions, as they relate to us or our management,
identify forward-looking statements. Moreover, we operate in a very
competitive and rapidly changing environment. New risks emerge from
time to time. It is not possible for our management to predict all
risks, nor can we assess the impact of all factors on our business
or the extent to which any factor, or combination of factors, may
cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in
any forward-looking statements we may make, including any
statements made in regards to our response to the COVID-19
pandemic. In light of these risks, uncertainties and assumptions,
the future events and trends discussed in this press release may
not occur and actual results could differ materially and adversely
from those anticipated or implied in the forward-looking
statements. Such statements reflect our current views with respect
to future events, the outcome of which is subject to certain risks,
including, among others: risks associated with COVID-19 and the
governmental responses to it, including its impact across our
businesses on demand and operations, as well as on the operations
of our suppliers and other business partners, and the effectiveness
of our actions taken in response to these risks; general
competitive conditions, including actions our competitors and
content providers may take to grow their businesses; a decline in
college enrollment or decreased funding available for students;
decisions by colleges and universities to outsource their physical
and/or online bookstore operations or change the operation of their
bookstores; implementation of our digital strategy may not result
in the expected growth in our digital sales and/or profitability;
risk that digital sales growth does not exceed the rate of
investment spend; the performance of our online, digital and other
initiatives, integration of and deployment of, additional products
and services including new digital channels, and enhancements to
higher education digital
products, and the inability to achieve the expected cost
savings; the risk of price reduction or change in format of course
materials by publishers, which could negatively impact revenues and
margin; the general economic environment and consumer spending
patterns; decreased consumer demand for our products, low growth or
declining sales; the strategic objectives, successful integration,
anticipated synergies, and/or other expected potential benefits of
various acquisitions may not be fully realized or may take longer
than expected; the integration of the operations of various
acquisitions into our own may also increase the risk of our
internal controls being found ineffective; changes to purchase or
rental terms, payment terms, return policies, the discount or
margin on products or other terms with our suppliers; our ability
to successfully implement our strategic initiatives including our
ability to identify, compete for and execute upon additional
acquisitions and strategic investments; risks associated with
operation or performance of MBS Textbook Exchange, LLC’s
point-of-sales systems that are sold to college bookstore
customers; technological changes; risks associated with counterfeit
and piracy of digital and print materials; our international
operations could result in additional risks; our ability to attract
and retain employees; risks associated with data privacy,
information security and intellectual
property; trends and challenges to our business and in the
locations in which we have stores; non-renewal of managed
bookstore, physical and/or online store contracts and
higher-than-anticipated store closings; disruptions to our
information technology systems, infrastructure and data due to
computer malware, viruses, hacking and phishing attacks, resulting
in harm to our business and results of operations; disruption of or
interference with third party web service providers and our own
proprietary technology; work stoppages or increases in labor costs;
possible increases in shipping rates or interruptions in shipping
service; product shortages, including decreases in the used
textbook inventory supply associated with the implementation of
publishers’ digital offerings and direct to student textbook
consignment rental programs, as well as the risks associated with
the impacts that public health crises may have on the ability of
our suppliers to manufacture or source products, particularly from
outside of the United States; changes in domestic and international
laws or regulations, including U.S. tax reform, changes in tax
rates, laws and regulations, as well as related guidance; enactment
of laws or changes in enforcement practices which may restrict or
prohibit our use of texts, emails, interest based online
advertising, recurring billing or similar marketing and sales
activities; the amount of our indebtedness and ability to comply
with covenants applicable to any future debt financing; our ability
to satisfy future capital and liquidity requirements; our ability
to access the credit and capital markets at the times and in the
amounts needed and on acceptable terms; adverse results from
litigation, governmental investigations, tax-related proceedings,
or audits; changes in accounting standards; and the other risks and
uncertainties detailed in the section titled “Risk Factors” in Part
I - Item 1A in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended
May 2, 2020. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties
materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect,
actual results or outcomes may vary materially from those described
as anticipated, believed, estimated, expected, intended or planned.
Subsequent written and oral forward-looking statements attributable
to us or persons acting on our behalf are expressly qualified in
their entirety by the cautionary statements in this paragraph. We
undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any
forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information,
future events or otherwise after the date of this press
release.
View source
version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20201221005185/en/
Media Contact: Carolyn J.
Brown Senior Vice President, Corporate Communications and Public
Affairs Barnes & Noble Education, Inc. cbrown@bned.com
908-991-2967
Meier Raivich Senior Vice President, Global Communications
Fanatics mraivich@fanatics.com
Ryan Mucatel Lids / Berk Communications
ryan@berkcommunications.com 646-308-2462
Investor Contact: Andy
Milevoj Vice President, Corporate Finance and Investor Relations
Barnes & Noble Education, Inc. amilevoj@bned.com
908-991-2776
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