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Barnes & Noble to Go Public: One of the nation’s biggest book retailers, Barnes & Noble Inc., plans an initial public offering to raise a projected $100 million. The New York-based company said in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission that it will sell nearly 6.9 million common shares at $16 each, about 36% of the company. About 5.5 million shares will be offered in the United States and Canada and 1.375 million in other countries. Barnes & Noble, with 869 stores, most of them under the B. Dalton Bookseller Inc. name, is jointly owned by New York businessman Leonard Riggio, the company’s chairman, and Dutch retailer Vendex International. The bookseller vies for dominance in the $8-billion U.S. industry with Kmart Corp.’s Waldenbooks unit.