 In the Borders acquisition, Kmart merged the two companies in hopes that the experienced Borders senior management could bail out floundering Waldenbooks.Instead, many of the Borders senior management team left the company, leaving behind an even larger and more unwieldy division for Kmart executives to handle on the heels of aggressive expansions by rivals Barnes & Noble and Crown Books.Facing its own fiscal problems and intense pressure from stockholders, Kmart spun off Borders in a highly structured stock-purchase plan.