Barnes & Noble is getting a new owner after years of declines: Elliott Management, the giant Paul Singer-run hedge fund

• Elliott Management is acquiring Barnes & Noble for about $683 million including debt, the companies said Friday.
• While the bookseller has lost half its market value in the last five years, its shares soared Thursday after The Wall Street Journal reported the deal was in the works.
• Barnes & Noble would not mark Elliott's first bookstore deal. Elliott acquired Waterstones, the largest retail bookseller in the United Kingdom, one year ago. That chain's chief executive, James Daunt, will also assume the role of Barnes & Noble CEO once the deal is complete.
• Once a $2.4 billion company by market capitalization around its peak in 2006, Barnes & Noble's market value has shrunk to just over $436 million. Its shares traded just under $6 apiece as of Thursday's close.