Borders crumbling and books could be consolidating

No, we’re not talking about the geographical dividing line between the U.S. and Mexico but the bookstore. It had liquidity problems before being extended a loan by its largest shareholder, hedge fund Pershing Square Capital Management.

But… that’s at 12.5 percent interest, which isn’t really viable. And… the loan includes an option to buy Borders.

The sales agreement announced Thursday gives Borders the option until Jan. 15 to require Pershing Square to pay $125 million for its international business, which includes Borders' Paperchase, Australia, New Zealand and Singapore subsidiaries. But Borders said it must pursue the sale of those operations elsewhere before any deal with Pershing.

Beyond the liquidity, Borders says its losing business to online sellers like Amazon and discounters like Wal-Mart.

And, it’s not just Borders. Barnes & Noble said its fourth-quarter profits were off 9 percent. It said that if Borders’ investment bankers contacted it, it would listen.

The flip side is that Borders’ same-store sales in the fourth quarter were up 2.1 percent from a year ago and increased for the third straight quarter.