Barnes & Noble apparently isn’t ready to let go of Nook, announcing today that while it’ll still be spinning off its college textbook business as planned, it’ll be holding on to its e-book division after all.

The biggest U.S. brick-and-mortar bookseller will keep its Nook digital business clasped closely in the same loving embrace as its retail operations, despite struggles to keep the e-book business profitable, reports Reuters, saying the union of the two would better serve digital customers.

“We said we were separating Nook Digital business from the retail business, but the board decided that separating the college business would allow each business to optimize the opportunities,” a spokeswoman explained.

In the meantime, Barnes & Noble Education Inc. will be a separate, publicly traded company, with 714 stores on U.S. college and university campuses. That spinoff is expected to be a done deal by the end of August, after final approval from the chain’s board. The company notes however, that the spinoff could still be nixed entirely.

Barnes & Noble to keep Nook business, spin off college books unit [Reuters]

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