Barnes & Noble, Inc. (BKS)

[Joe89]

Tough break for BKS this morning.

(Reuters) - John Malone's Liberty Media Corp is slashing its stake in Barnes & Noble Inc by 90 percent, three years after it invested $204 million in the struggling U.S. bookstore chain and its then promising e-reader, the Nook.

Barnes & Noble shares fell as much as 10.7 percent after Liberty is selling down its holding to around 1.66 percent from its previous 16.6 percent, bought in 2011 through an investment in preferred stock. (r.reuters.com/med36t)

Liberty said it was selling a majority of its holding to institutional investors. It did not name the buyers or how much money it received from the sale.