Borders will not ask its shareholders to vote on an amendment to its bylaws that would give it the authority to initiate a reverse stock split at its May annual meeting. The company had previously said it might need to implement a stock split to met New York Stock Exchange requirements that a company’s stock trade above $1 per share. The NYSE has since eased the requirement and Borders’s stock has crossed the $1 level. (Its stock price closed at $1.45 yesterday).
The retailer also said that its board of directors will undergo sweeping changes beginning with the reduction of its size to eight when two current members, Edna Medford and Michael Weiss, step down at the annual meeting rather than stand for re-election. Five of the remaining members will run for re-election, but will leave when replacements can be found. Borders intends to form a search committee to find new directors and will listen to suggestions from shareholders, something that should give Pershing Square, Borders’s largest shareholder, plenty of say in the composition of the new board, which will stay at eight members.
Separately, Borders has enhanced its book club-related services and is now suggesting titles for book clubs, selected by its own buyers, and is sharing additional resources for book clubs. To highlight the new services, Borders and Waldenbooks stores nationwide will host “Book Club Night,” an in-store book discussion at 7:00 p.m. on April 23 featuring PW bestseller The Friday Night Knitting Club by Kate Jacobs. The event will begin with a “welcome message” from Jacobs, and then store staff will lead attendees in a discussion of the book.
Borders Book Club suggestions will run from fiction to nonfiction and include young adult and children’s titles as well. Stores will also have “Book Club Experts” on hand to answer questions and provide tips on organizing a book club, planning meetings and moderating discussions.
Additional book club selections include City of Thieves by David Benioff, Those Who Save Us by Jenna Blum, People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie and One Handed Catch by Mary Jane Auch.
