US-based technology firm Microsoft is offering to buy the digital assets of Nook Media for around $1 billion, according to TechCrunch.
Microsoft already has a stake in Nook Media, the maker of the eponymous reading device, which was formed by book retailer Barnes & Noble Inc.
Shares in Barnes & Noble, America’s biggest books retailer, jumped 20% on the news.
However, a subsequent report said Microsoft had not made any official moves to take the floundering venture off the retailer’s hands, and has no plans to do so going forward. The biggest point of contention is the conflicting operating systems: Nook uses Android, while Microsoft touts Windows.
