Best Buy offer for $8.8 billion comes from founder
A pedestrian walks by a Best Buy store on April 10, 2012, in New York City.
Richard Schulze, the founder of Best Buy, offered to buy the electronics retailer today for as much as $8.8 billion, the New York Times reported. Just months after stepping down from the company, Schulze has now made history by offering to take the company private at $24 to $26 per share. If it goes through, the deal would be the biggest buyout to date of an American retailer, the Times said.
“I have been actively exploring all available options for my ownership stake,” Schulze, 71, said in a public letter, according to Bloomberg News.
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“That exploration has reinforced my belief that bold and extensive changes are needed for Best Buy to return to market leadership and has led me to the conclusion that the company’s best chance for renewed success will be to implement these changes under a different ownership structure.”
As Best Buy has been losing business to online competitors, the company is struggling to avoid going bankrupt. Over the past year it announced a restructuring plan and also fired its CEO, the Associated Press reported.
Richard Schulze resigned from Best Buy in May after former CEO Brian Dunn was accused of having an "inappropriate relationship" with a female employee, which is against company policy, BBC News reported. An investigation found that Schulze knew about the affair but did not report it.
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