Barnesandnoble.com buys Amazon book distributor

NEWS The battle to become the top online bookseller has taken another twist, with barnesandnoble.com buying Ingram Book Group - Amazon.com's principal distributor. In an official statement, Amazon.com said the $600m deal "raises questions", given that its arch-rival now owns the company that distributes most of its books. Independent booksellers in the US are also unhappy. Their professional organisation, the American Booksellers Association, is already considering anti-trust action against the barnesandnoble.com. The announcement of the deal on Friday brought forth a stream of conflicting press releases. Amazon.com stated its hope that Ingram will continue to treat it "like other independent booksellers". Barnesandnoble.com returned, saying it was "amused to read Jeff Bezos [Amazon.com founder and CEO] where he describes himself as an independent bookseller". It pointed out that Amazon.com is now worth more in terms of shares than all the independent booksellers". Amazon.co.uk were unable to comment at the time of publishing.