May 21, 2011 09:51 GMT  ·  By

Reports haven't really been hinting at Barnes and Noble wanting to get bought off, but it looks like a certain company does want to acquire the book seller, or at least 70% of it.

Barnes and Noble is known to be the biggest book seller in the United States, and it looks like this status has drawn the attention of other entities.

While physical, paper books are still selling now, the fact of the matter is that they are dwindling, evident from how Amazon is now selling more e-books than regular ones.

Not to say that B&N is unaware of this, of course. After all, the outfit has been doing its best to establish a firm foothold in the e-book market, even selling its own e-readers, the Nook series.

In fact, Barnes and Noble is one of the few vendors of a color e-reader, whose feature set is almost akin to that of a tablet.

All in all, the book seller has draw the eye of Liberty Media Corp., which has reportedly proposed to buy B&N, or at least gain a 70% stake in it.

More specifically, the outfit wants to enact a sort of merger by paying the sum of $17 per share in cash, which would lead to a sum revolving around the $500 million mark.

Barnes and Noble does have the status of “established leader in bookselling” and has “a management team that has demonstrated expertise in operations and positioned the company for growth in a dynamic marketplace,” according to Liberty Media, so a buyout would make sense, in a way.

Liberty Media might have what it takes to strengthen B&N's digital book strategy, especially considering its apparent concern over the Nook.

To be more precise, the former feels that the Nook could do with a better marketing performance, at least until it gets closer to giving Amazon's Kindle a run for its money.

If the deal is agreed upon, it will have to go through various procedures and adhere to conditions on the part of both sides before being signed.