US book retailer Barnes & Noble said it has “decided to pursue strategic exploratory work” for the spin-out of its NOOK devices business, with CEO William Lynch noting in a statement that “we see substantial value in what we’ve built with our Nook business in only two years, and we believe it’s the right time to investigate our options to unlock that value.”

The company has grown from a base of offering eBook readers into the tablet market, and describes the Nook as “one of the world’s best retail platforms for the sale of digital copyright content.” While currently focused on the US market, the company noted “the opportunity for Nook internationally in the next 12 months,” stating that it is in talks with “publishers, retailers and technology companies” which may lead to expansion of the business overseas.

Barnes & Noble said that during the nine-week period to 31 December 2011, Nook sales increased by 70 percent year-on-year, noting that “sales of Nook Tablet exceeded expectations while sales of Nook Simple Touch lagged expectations, indicating a stronger customer preference for colour devices.”

It said that digital content sales grew briskly during the same period, increasing 113 percent on a comparable basis, across its digital books, digital newsstand, “and the rapidly growing apps business.”

The retailer is facing tough competition from retailer Amazon, which offers its own range of eBook and tablet devices. Following Christmas, the online seller said that throughout December, customers purchased “well over one million Kindle devices per week,” with its more advanced device – Kindle Fire and Kindle Touch – ranking more highly in the sales chart than the base Kindle.

As with Barnes & Noble, Amazon has yet to launch its Kindle Fire tablet outside of the US.