Scholastic Courts, Dumps EToys

Scholastic Corp., publisher of the Harry Potter series of children’s books, said it decided against buying the inventory of bankrupt EToys Inc. New York-based Scholastic had said it won an auction for the Santa Monica Internet retailer’s inventory with an offer of 30 cents on the dollar, or about $8 million. The news sent Scholastic’s shares plunging $5.19, or 13%, to close at $35.13 on Nasdaq. The publisher announced after the markets closed that it had abandoned the bid because the purchase “did not meet Scholastic’s threshold for accelerating or reducing the costs of its Web initiatives.”