Borders may put itself up for sale. This may give rival Barnes and Noble a chance to pick up Borders at firesale pricing.

Borders executives are one year into a plan to turn around the bookseller, revealed on Mar. 20 they were considering selling all or part of the company after being hit hard by the tough retail environment and the difficult credit markets.

Barnes & Noble shares traded 8.1% higher on Mar. 20 to close at 30.27. Borders shares hit a 52-week low below $4 per share at one point on Mar. 20 before ending the day at 5.07, down 29%. That gave Borders a total stock market value of $298 million.

Though some analysts expressed doubts about a Barnes & Noble purchase of Borders — which would need the approval of anti-trust regulators — Barnes & Noble executives told analysts they were open to the idea.

Borders has hired JPMorgan and Merrill Lynch to look into a possible sale.

Barnes & Noble reported earnings of $1.79 per share, vs. $1.83 a year ago as revenue rose 1.7%. The firm raised its quarterly dividend from 15 to 25 cents per share.

The book-selling business is already very competitive, with Internet retailer Amazon.com giving Borders and Barnes and Noble a serious battle.

I prefer Barnes and Noble and Amazon over Borders because Borders stores seem to be in disarray and they seem cluttered almost to the point of being dirty. Borders also is more of a music and video store now istead of a book store.