Borders Group has raised $25 million in a sale of new stock to a company controlled by Bennett LeBow, a financier and raider with a tobacco company, among other holdings. LeBow will become the company’s largest stockholder, chairman of the board, and will also control another board seat.
Borders also recently completed a debt refinancing (see “Borders Gets a Reprieve”); the combination of the equity and debt deals gives the company a stronger balance sheet with more time to deal with its operating problems.