By Liana B. Baker

Feb 27 (Reuters) - Liberty Media Corp, which holds a large stake in Barnes & Noble (NYSE: BKS - news) , said on Wednesday it has the power to block a sale of Barnes & Nobles' retail stores and it is waiting to see whether the bookseller's chairman Leonard Riggio will make an offer.

Liberty Media, controlled by cable pioneer and billionaire John Malone, owns preferred shares, that, if converted, would give it a 17 percent stake of bookseller Barnes & Noble. Its CEO Greg Maffei spoke about Barnes & Noble on a conference call following Liberty's fourth-quarter results.

On Monday, Barnes & Noble said its chairman, Leonard Riggio plans to make an offer for the company's bookstores in a deal that would split the stores off from the company's Nook device and e-book business. [ID: nL4N0BP49M]

Maffei, the Liberty CEO, said on a conference call with investors that his company "has a fair amount of rights to influence or block any sale that we don't see as advantageous" and that it is waiting to see if a transaction occurs. Liberty's preferred shares come with voting rights.

Maffei emphasized that the situation is fluid and that he is not certain what Riggio will do.

"No offer has been made ... It's very preliminary and we'll see where Len (Riggio) goes with that," Maffei said.

Riggio, who owns nearly 30 percent of Barnes & Noble, has not yet disclosed how much he would offer for the stores.

Barnes & Noble had put itself up for sale in 2010, but its only offer came from Liberty. Liberty, however, backed down from an initial $1 billion bid and instead bought $204 million in preferred shares convertible for $17 apiece.

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UPDATE 2-Liberty waits for chairman's bid for Barnes & Noble stores