Education Publisher Pearson has invested a whopping $89.5 Million In Barnes & Noble's Nook and E-Book Division in order for it to cater to the education market.

The publisher, which owns the Financial Times and Penguin Books will now own the option to purchase up to a five percent ownership stake in NOOK Media, LLC

Earlier last April, Microsoft also invested in Barnes & Noble when they first launched their NOOK division. They now own 16.8 percent of the company shares with Barnes & Noble holding on to 78.2 percent of the shares.

A press release by the company states that "Pearson's strategic investment in NOOK Media will accelerate customer access to digital content by pairing its leading expertise in online learning with NOOK Media's expertise in online distribution and customer service. This will facilitate improved discovery of available digital content and services, as well as seamless access."

Talking about the new partnership, William Lynch, Chief Executive Officer of Barnes & Noble, Inc., says, "We formed NOOK Media to be a leader in the exploding market for digital content. Pearson is a forward thinking company similarly focused on reading and learning, with powerful assets and a terrific management team. We welcome their partnership in NOOK Media, and look forward to working with them and Microsoft to deliver great digital experiences for our shared customers."

Will Ethridge, Chief Executive Officer of Pearson North America is also excited about the partnership stating that the two companies have been in good business terms for decades now.

"Pearson and Barnes & Noble have been valued partners for decades, and in recent years both have invested heavily and imaginatively to provide engaging and effective digital reading and learning experiences. This new agreement extends our partnership and deepens our commitment to provide better, easier experiences for our customers. With this investment we have entered into a commercial agreement with NOOK Media that will allow our two companies to work closely together in order to create a more seamless and effective experience for students. It is another example of our strategy of making our content and services broadly available to students and faculty through a wide range of distribution partners."