The Wall Street Journal has reported that Barnes & Noble has assembled a team to look at acquiring competitor Borders.  This isn’t the first time there’s been a rumor of a purchase of Borders by B&N (see “Borders Stock Rises on Rumors of a Sale”), but it appears to take the possibility of a deal one step closer.

The report said that Barnes & Noble was one of 30 companies showing interest in acquiring Borders.  Borders' stock rose around 9% on Wednesday.

Borders put itself up for sale after financing difficulties made it difficult to operate (see “Credit Crunch Hits Borders”).   

Although Barnes & Noble’s share of the book market is nearly double Borders', in the manga category Borders is larger, making the outcome of this process very important for manga publishers.