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Sorry Europeans, Best Buy is Coming
In a $2.1 billion deal announced this morning, Best Buy and The Carphone Warhouse will partner together to create a new company to provide Best Buy stores in Europe. This is a pretty complicated transaction — check the press release for all of the details.
Carphone Warehouse will contribute it’s 2,400 European retail stores to the new company. Best Buy will acquire a 50% stake in the new company for a cash consideration of £1.1 billion, or $2.1 billion.
The Carphone Warehouse continues to own 100% of its fixed line telecoms business in the U.K., comprising TalkTalk, AOL Broadband and Opal; and its share of the Virgin Mobile France joint venture. Best Buy continues to hold its 2.9% stake in The Carphone Warehouse.
This deal demonstrates just how powerful the mobile connection is and will be in the near-term future.
The new company’s goals include growing Carphone Warehouse’s retail business, build consumer electronics market share by opening Best Buy stores in Europe beginning next year and to leverage Best Buy’s U.S. expertise in acquiring deals and products. Carphone Warehouse personnel will assume the initial management of the new company.
When the transaction completes, both Best Buy and Carphone Warehouse will own 50% of the newly-formed company.
Maybe we’ll see Improv Anywhere do a redux of their Best Buy stunt in Czech.
ha ha josh – jail there ain’t like jail here i hear
Geek Squad has been offered through the Carphone Warehouse for a while now (though I hope no one is stupid enough to bother with it).
Here in the UK, the largest electronics retailer (brick and mortar) is DSG (PC World, Currys, Dixons) – and to be frank, I’ve heard bad things about BestBuy, but a new option separate from DSG would be a god send. Over-priced products sold by people that have no idea what they are talking about.
My old PC World business account manager once bragged to me that his new home PC had a “11ghz processor” (eleven gigahertz). Says it all.
rarely can best buy compete with online merchants – very rarely.
Best Buy is bad, but Circuit City – now there is a joke!
Welcome to Europe Best Buy. We are rid of Mediamarket and Saturn and want competition in that market! @BestBuy: If you really want to get rich in Europe, bring quality service, great products and a feeling to the customer that you love your customers. Ex: I am waiting for my Washing machine since 3 weeks now and Mediamarket always deliver the wrong machine (today the third time – wrong modell – next try tomorrow) … no words