DISCLOSURE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
This annual report on Form 10-K contains certain “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and information relating to us and our business that are based on the beliefs of our management as well as assumptions made by and information currently available to our management. When used in this communication, the words “anticipate,” “believe,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intend,” “plan,” “will,” “forecasts,” “projections,” and similar expressions, as they relate to us or our management, identify forward-looking statements. Moreover, we operate in a very competitive and rapidly changing environment. New risks emerge from time to time. It is not possible for our management to predict all risks, nor can we assess the impact of all factors on our business or the extent to which any factor, or combination of factors, may cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statements we may make. In light of these risks, uncertainties and assumptions, the future events and trends discussed in this Form 10-K may not occur and actual results could differ materially and adversely from those anticipated or implied in the forward-looking statements.
Such statements reflect our current views with respect to future events, the outcome of which is subject to certain risks, including, among others:
Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results or outcomes may vary materially from those described as anticipated, believed, estimated, expected, intended or planned. Subsequent written and oral forward-looking statements attributable to us or persons acting on our behalf are expressly qualified in their entirety by the cautionary statements in this paragraph. We undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise after the date of this Form 10-K.
AVAILABILITY OF INFORMATION
You may read and copy any materials Barnes & Noble Education, Inc. files with the SEC at the SEC’s Public Reference Room at 100 F Street, N.E., Room 1580, Washington, D.C. 20549. Copies of such materials also can be obtained free of charge at the SEC’s website, www.sec.gov, or by mail from the Public Reference Room of the SEC, at prescribed rates. Please call the SEC at 1-800-SEC-0330 for further information on the operation of the Public Reference Room. Barnes & Noble Education, Inc.’s SEC filings are also available to the public, free of charge, on its corporate website, www.bned.com, as soon as reasonably practicable after Barnes & Noble Education, Inc. electronically files such material with, or furnishes it to, the SEC. You may also request a copy of any of our filings with the SEC at no cost by writing us at Investor Relations, Barnes & Noble Education, Inc., 120 Mountain View Blvd., Basking Ridge, N.J. 07920. Barnes & Noble Education, Inc.’s common stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange. Material filed by Barnes & Noble Education, Inc. can be inspected at the offices of the New York Stock Exchange at 20 Broad Street, New York, N.Y. 10005.
EXPLANATORY NOTE
On February 26, 2015, Barnes & Noble, Inc. (“Barnes & Noble”) announced plans for the complete legal and structural separation of Barnes & Noble Education, Inc. (the “Company”, "us", "we") from Barnes & Noble (the “Spin-Off”). Under the Separation and Distribution Agreement between Barnes & Noble and the Company (the “Separation and Distribution Agreement”), Barnes & Noble planned to distribute all of its equity interest in us, consisting of all of the outstanding shares of our Common Stock, to Barnes & Noble’s stockholders on a pro rata basis.
On July 14, 2015, Barnes & Noble approved the final distribution ratio and declared a pro rata dividend of the outstanding shares of our common stock, par value $0.01 per share (“Common Stock”), to Barnes & Noble’s existing stockholders. The pro rata dividend was made on August 2, 2015 to the Barnes & Noble stockholders of record (as of July 27, 2015). Each Barnes & Noble stockholder of record received a distribution of 0.632 shares of our Common Stock for each share of Barnes & Noble common stock held on the record date. Following the Spin-Off, Barnes & Noble does not own any equity interest in us.
On August 2, 2015, we completed the legal separation from Barnes & Noble, at which time we began to operate as an independent publicly-traded company. Our Common Stock began to trade on a “when-issued” basis on the New York Stock Exchange ("NYSE") under the symbol “BNED WI” beginning on July 23, 2015. On August 3, 2015, when-issued trading of our Common Stock ended, and our Common Stock began “regular-way” trading under the symbol “BNED.”