Best Buy Buyout May Be Off, Shares Surge

by Christopher Freeburn | February 14, 2013 10:48 am

Best Buy BBY [1]Richard Schulze’s bid to regain control of the electronics retail chain he founded in 1966 may be nearing an end[2].

Sources tell Reuters that Schulze is looking for investment partners to buy a minority share in Best Buy (NYSE:BBY[3]) instead of trying to acquire the whole company after failing to obtain the required financing to take the retailer private. Schulze currently owns about 20% of Best Buy.

Shares of Best Buy surged about 5% in Thursday morning trading.

Last year, Schulze announced plans to launch a takeover bid for the struggling big-box retailer[4], valuing the company at as much as $11 billion.

That came after he was forced to resign as Best Buy’s chairman[5] in May when it emerged that Schulze failed to inform the board after discovering an inappropriate relationship between ousted CEO Brian Dunn and a female employee.

In August, Best Buy hired turnaround expert[6] Hubert Joly as its new CEO.

Endnotes:

[Image]: http://investorplace.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/Best-Buy.jpg
may be nearing an end: http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/02/14/us-bestbuy-schulze-idUSBRE91C1KU20130214
BBY: http://studio-5.financialcontent.com/investplace/quote?Symbol=BBY
launch a takeover bid for the struggling big-box retailer: http://investorplace.com/2012/10/schulze-private-equity-firms-examine-best-buys-books/
was forced to resign as Best Buy’s chairman: http://investorplace.com/2012/05/best-buy-chairman-resigns-after-ceo-inquiry/
hired turnaround expert: http://investorplace.com/2012/08/best-buy-rejects-buyout-taps-new-ceo-shares-tumble/

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