Barnes & Noble Founder Halts Plan to Buy Stores; Loss Widens

(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.