Waterstone's bid talk boosts HMV

Britain's struggling entertainment group HMV announced on Friday a deal to sell its book shop chain Waterstone's to Russian billionaire Alexander Mamut for £53 million (60 million euros, $86 million).HMV said it was selling Britain's biggest book chain to A&NN Capital Fund Management Ltd., a company controlled by a trust in which Mamut has an interest."We are extremely pleased to have reached an agreement to acquire Waterstone's and its great heritage," Mamut said in a statement.

Shares in HMV Group climb 6% after the troubled music and book retailer said it was considering selling its Waterstone's bookstores.

Everyone's been talking about Russia's super rich oligarchs lately — first because of the banking crisis in Cyprus, and now because of the mysterious death of one oligarch, Boris Berezovsky, in London this weekend.

The 92-year-old music chain has seen its sales eroded by fierce competition from online music retailers, digital downloads and supermarkets. It has also been saddled with £220m of bank debt. HMV said talks with banks and stakeholders to try to avert an imminent breach of its banking covenants had been unsuccessful. Its shares were suspended with immediate effect. The chain’s administrators intend “to continue to trade whilst they seek a purchaser for the business”, HMV said.

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Troubled U.K. entertainment retailer HMV Group said it will sell its Waterstone's bookstore business for $86 million, ahead of a key deadline on loan commitments.

HMV announces it has "conditionally" agreed to sell its Waterstone's book business to A&NN Capital Fund Management for £53m.