Melville House Books

Tim Waterstone

The last giant of British chain bookselling is now officially up for sale. The fate of Waterstone’s, which is currently under the ownership of the struggling HMV Group, has been the subject of much speculation since HMV announced their dwindling profits several months ago. Up until this week, HMV had firmly denied that the Waterstone’s chain would be put up for sale, in spite of strong interest shown by its founder, Tim Waterstone.

However a new report at the Guardian outlines potential plans for Waterstone to once again take up a leading role in the company, and to link up with Russian billionaire Alexander Mamut. The estimated sale would be at around £75 million, which would still not be enough to pay off HMV’s debt of around £130 million.

Waterstone’s could be getting away just in time; this year so far the HMV Group have closed twenty smaller bookstores across the company to save money. The reception to Waterstone buying back the chain has been positive, and from what I hear from the booksellers on the front line, there has been relief that the chain might be heading back into the hands of a man who cares about books. Here’s hoping he doesn’t pull a Border’s and award himself a nice fat bonus.