Barnes & Noble Education Taps Banker Ahead of 2024 Debt Wall (1)

Barnes & Noble Education Inc., an operator of university bookstores, has hired advisers at Houlihan Lokey to help explore options for managing loans maturing next year, according to people with knowledge of the situation.

Higher education has been hit by falling enrollment, even before the pandemic. Barnes & Noble Education has posted net losses in each of the last five fiscal years, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

As of the quarter ended January 28, the company had $285.6 million of debt outstanding, excluding leases. It also had about $355 million of bills from vendors to pay and ...