Exhibit 99(a)(9)
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT:
Mary Ellen Keating
Senior Vice President
Corporate Communications
Barnes & Noble, Inc.
(212) 633-3323
BARNES & NOBLE, INC. COMPLETES SUCCESSFUL
TENDER OFFER FOR FUNCO, INC.
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - June 14, 2000 - - Barnes & Noble, Inc. (NYSE: BKS)
today announced that its cash tender offer for all outstanding shares of
common stock of Funco, Inc. expired, as scheduled, at 12:00 midnight, New
York City time, on Tuesday, June 13, 2000. Based on a preliminary count,
6,313,255 shares of Funco, Inc. were tendered (including shares guaranteed
for delivery), representing approximately 98% of the total outstanding
shares, and accepted for payment at a price of $24.75 per share.
In order to complete the acquisition, Barnes & Noble, Inc. expects to
consummate the merger of Funco, Inc. with a wholly owned subsidiary of
Barnes & Noble, Inc. within the next few days. As a result of the merger,
each remaining outstanding share of Funco, Inc. not purchased in the tender
offer will be converted into the right to receive the same $24.75 per share
in cash, without interest. Funco, Inc., combined with the complementary
business of Babbage's Etc., acquired by Barnes & Noble, Inc. last year,
will make Barnes & Noble, Inc. the world's largest video game and PC
entertainment specialty retailer.
Funco, Inc. markets interactive home entertainment, primarily through the
sale of new and previously played video games, related hardware and
accessories, through its more than 400 FuncoLand stores, primarily in strip
malls, and Web site, http://www.funcoland.com.
Barnes & Noble, Inc. operates 544 Barnes & Noble and 389 B. Dalton
bookstores, and Babbage's Etc., one of the nation's largest operators of
video game and entertainment software stores. Barnes & Noble stores stock
an authoritative selection of book titles and provide access to more than
one million titles. They offer books from more than 50,000 publisher
imprints with an emphasis on small, independent publishers and university
presses. Barnes & Noble is one of the world's largest booksellers on the
World Wide Web (http://www.bn.com), and the exclusive bookseller on America
Online (Keyword: bn). Barnes and Noble.com has the largest standing
inventory of any online bookseller. Barnes & Noble, Inc. also publishes
books under its own imprint for exclusive sale through its retail stores,
mail-order catalogs, and Web site.
General financial information on Barnes & Noble, Inc. can be obtained via
the Internet by visiting the company's investor relations Web site:
http://www.shareholder.com/bks/.
Safe Harbor
This press release contains statements that constitute forward-looking
statements, as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of
1995. Forward-looking statements inherently involve risks and
uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from the
forward-looking statements. Factors that may cause or contribute to such
differences include, among other things, changes in business conditions and
the economy in general, changes in governmental regulations, unforeseen
litigation and other risk factors identified in Barnes & Noble, Inc.'s
public filings under "Risk Factors." Barnes & Noble, Inc. undertakes no
obligation to update these forward-looking statements for revisions or
changes after the date of this press release.
