John Tinker

(Reuters) - Barnes & Noble Inc's founder on Tuesday pulled the plug on his plan to buy the company's bookstores and the chain posted a deeper quarterly loss, sending its shares down as much as 16 percent in early trading.

The quarterly results came in slightly ahead of Wall Street expectations, but sales of B&N's Nook device and e-books plunged, and business at its stores slumped.

Leonard Riggio, the company's chairman, founder and top shareholder, said he has suspended his efforts to make an offer for B&N's retail business but reserves the right to pursue an offer in the future.

For Barnes & Noble Inc. (BKS) founder Leonard Riggio to take his bookstores private, he may need to write a check for more than the entire company’s market value.

Riggio said yesterday that he will offer to buy the retail stores and website of the New York-based company he started more than 40 years ago, leaving shareholders with Barnes & Noble’s college book and Nook e-reader businesses. The retail chain alone is worth about $1 billion, according to the average of four analysts’ estimates compiled by Bloomberg…

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