Monday, August 6, 2012

Best Buy Goes Private?

Former Best Buy CEO Richard Schulze announced that he would like to take the company private. Mr. Schulze already owns slightly more than 20 percent of Best Buy stock. Best Buy stock is down around 50 percent over the past 5 years as the company's sales and profits have declined. The share price range offered by Schulze is $24 to $26 and represents a premium of 36 to 47 percent on Friday's closing price. The offer will be funded through Schulze's equity investment, private equity investments, and debt. All told, the offer values Best Buy at about $8.8 billion. While no one knows the exact financing for the proposed LBO at this time, one possible scenario is explained here.