Barnes and Noble 2012 Annual Report Download - page 62

On August , , the Company entered into an invest-
ment agreement between the Company and Liberty GIC,
Inc. (Liberty), a subsidiary of Liberty Media Corporation
(Liberty Media), pursuant to which the Company issued
and sold to Liberty, and Liberty purchased, , shares
of the Company’s Series J Preferred Stock, par value .
per share, for an aggregate purchase price of , in
a private placement exempt from the registration require-
ments of the  Act (see Note ).
In fi scal , the Company entered into agreements with
third parties who sell Barnes & Noble products through
QVC and Home Shopping Network (HSN), affi liates of
Liberty Media. The Liberty entity that indirectly holds the
Barnes & Noble investment (Liberty Media) is a separate
public company from the Liberty entity that owns QVC and
HSN (Liberty Interactive). Liberty Media was split-off (the
Split-Off ) from Liberty Interactive on September , .
No products were sold to the third parties from August ,
, the date of the investment through the date of the
Split-Off . The Company purchases trade books, primarily
craft/hobbies, from Leisure Arts, Inc. (Leisure Arts), a sub-
sidiary of Liberty Interactive. Total purchases from Leisure
Arts following the date of the Liberty investment and prior
to the date of the Split-Off were . The Company also
purchases Halloween costumes from BuySeasons Inc.
(BuySeasons), a subsidiary of Liberty Interactive. Total pur-
chases from BuySeasons following the date of the Liberty
investment and prior to the date of the Split-Off were
. On July , , the Company renewed a one-year
contract with Commerce Technologies, Inc. (Commerce
Hub), a subsidiary of Liberty Interactive, who provides
services to help facilitate and integrate sales with drop-
ship vendors. Total fees paid to Commerce Hub following
the date of the Liberty investment and prior to the date of
the Split-Off were . The Company purchases textbooks
from AI, Inc. (AI), a subsidiary of Liberty Interactive.
There were no purchases from AI following the date of the
Liberty investment and prior to the date of the Split-Off .
The Company paid commissions to Liberty Interactive
Advertising (LIA), a subsidiary of Liberty Interactive, who
serves as the exclusive premium advertising sales agency
for the Company. Total commissions paid to LIA following
the date of the Liberty investment and prior to the date of
the Split-Off were .
20. DIVIDENDS
The Company paid a dividend to preferred shareholders in
the amount of , in fi scal .
During fi scal , the Company paid a dividend of .
per share on June ,  to stockholders of record at
the close of business on June , , on September ,
 to stockholders of record at the close of business on
September ,  and on December ,  to stockhold-
ers of record at the close of business on December , .
On February , , the Company announced that its
Board of Directors was suspending its quarterly dividend
payment of . per share. This provided the Company
the fi nancial fl exibility to continue investing into its high
growth digital strategies.
During fi scal , the Company paid quarterly cash
dividends of . per share on June ,  to stock-
holders of record at the close of business on June , ,
on September ,  to stockholders of record at the
close of business on September , , on December ,
 to stockholders of record at the close of business on
December ,  and on March ,  to stockholders
of record at the close of business on March , .
60 Barnes & Noble, Inc. NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS continued