Barnes & Noble Credit Rating & NNN Cap Rate

Barnes & Noble Business Overview

Barnes & Noble described itself as the largest retail bookseller in the United States when it was acquired in 2019. It was a public company (NYSE: BKS) until August 7, 2019, when its acquisition by funds advised by Elliott Advisors (UK) Limited closed. Elliott paid $6.50 per share in cash, a transaction valued at about $683 million including assumed debt. Elliott had acquired Waterstones, which the June 7, 2019 release called the largest retail bookseller in the United Kingdom, in June 2018, and Waterstones CEO James Daunt also became CEO of Barnes & Noble.

When the deal was announced on June 7, 2019, Elliott said it would pursue a growth strategy at Barnes & Noble built on empowering local stores. Barnes & Noble has not filed reports with the SEC since August 2019, so its current store count and opening plans cannot be confirmed from public filings; it operated 627 bookstores in 50 states as of April 27, 2019.

Barnes & Noble Credit Profile

We have no verified public credit rating for Barnes & Noble from S&P, Moody’s or Fitch, and it has not filed financial statements with the SEC since 2019, so it cannot be classified as investment grade from public sources and investors cannot verify its leverage or cash flow from public filings. Ownership by Elliott-advised funds does not mean Elliott guarantees Barnes & Noble’s leases. Underwrite the lease guarantor named in the lease, the store’s location and the cost of re-leasing the space. See ratings for comparable retailers in the tenant ratings database.

No rating for Barnes & Noble has been verified against a primary source (an agency rating action or an issuer filing), so none is shown. If a rating is verified, it will appear here.

Barnes & Noble NNN Cap Rates

Live asking cap rates for Barnes & Noble and other large-format retailers:

Active listings InvestmentGrade.com tracks with an asking cap rate (stated in the listing, or computed from its stated income and price when no rate is stated), listings last observed October 16, 2026. Asking cap rates are not closed-sale cap rates. The middle half is the range from the 25th to the 75th percentile of listings. The 10-year Treasury yield is 5.24% as of October 1, 2026 (FRED series DGS10). Ratings are the agency ratings in our ratings database for the entity shown, which may be a parent company; the rating type (for example issuer, senior unsecured debt, long-term debt or revenue bond ratings) varies by company and is shown on each tenant page. A rating applies to a lease only if the rated entity signs or guarantees it, so confirm the tenant and any guarantor in the lease. n/a means no verified rating is on file. Not shown because fewer than 3 active listings with a published cap rate were observed: Barnes & Noble.

Barnes & Noble’s last Form 10‑K, for the fiscal year ended April 27, 2019, said most of its stores were in strip shopping centers, freestanding buildings and regional shopping malls. The live table shows a Barnes & Noble median only when at least three of its listings that pass our net lease screen report an asking cap rate. Compare a specific property with recent sales and with listings for retailers that have no verified investment grade rating.

What to Check in a Barnes & Noble Lease

• Tenant and guarantor: which Barnes & Noble entity signs the lease and whether a parent guarantees it.
• Expense structure: some bookstore leases are not true triple net; confirm who pays for roof, structure, common area maintenance, taxes and insurance.
• Term and options: remaining term, renewal options and any co-tenancy or early termination rights.
• Store performance: sales information if available, and whether the store has been remodeled or relocated.
• Re-use: larger bookstore boxes can have fewer replacement tenants than small-format buildings; consider whether the space could be divided.

Pros and Cons

Sources: Barnes & Noble, Inc. press releases filed with the SEC on June 7 and August 7, 2019; Barnes & Noble, Inc. Form 10‑K for the fiscal year ended April 27, 2019.