Barnes & Noble may swoop in and acquire a "minority" of the 200 stores Borders is closing as part of its Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing, Barnes & Noble's CEO told investors on a conference call Tuesday.

"Some of (the closing Borders stores) appear attractive to us," B&N CEO William Lynch said, according to the Associated Press. "And having the financial flexibility to negotiate with landlords and opportunistically put up stores in those locations could be attractive to us as well."

The possibility that B&N would be interested in some Borders locations during bankruptcy is a prospect analysts have been considering for quite some time.

But, of the 200 stores Borders is closing, about 75 percent are located close to existing Barnes & Noble stores. For example, Arborland Center's Borders, which is closing as part of the company's downsizing, is located less than a mile from the area's only freestanding Barnes & Noble on Washtenaw Avenue.

Barnes & Noble also told investors Tuesday that it was suspending its dividend and expects a possible short-term dip in revenue as a result of liquidation sales at the 200 Borders stores, MarketWatch reported.

Borders, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Feb. 16, employs about 550 workers at its Ann Arbor headquarters. The company hopes to develop a reorganization plan that the court and its creditors can agree to, allowing the company to emerge from bankruptcy and return to profitability.

Contact AnnArbor.com's Nathan Bomey at (734) 623-2587 or nathanbomey@annarbor.com. You can also follow him on Twitter or subscribe to AnnArbor.com's newsletters.