Bill Ackman, whose Pershing Square Capital Management hedge fund is the largest shareholder in Borders Group, told CNBC in an interview on Tuesday that he saw a Borders bankruptcy as “a very low probability event.”  “The company trades as if it were going to go bankrupt,” he noted, with the stock price around $1, but felt that the company had “stabilized itself” over the past year under the leadership of recently departed CEO Ron Marshall (see “Borders CEO Resigns”). 

Ackman mentioned the possibility of a merger with Barnes & Noble more than once.  “It may be part of an industry consolidation at some point, or stay as a stand-alone company,” he said. 

Asked why he owned Borders rather than its larger competitor (currently being accumulated by financier Ron Burkle), Ackman said, “I like Borders’ risk-reward better from here.”