Shares of bookseller Barnes & Noble Inc. rose 18% in late U.S. trading after Los Angeles billionaire Ron Burkle, its largest outside shareholder, asked the company to waive a provision preventing unwanted takeovers and let him acquire as much as 37% of the shares.
In a letter to the board of directors Thursday, Burkle asked the company to clarify whether the shares owned by the founding Riggio family were excluded from the takeover provision.
