Best Buy co-founder Richard Schulze.
(Credit: Best Buy)
Best Buy and company founder Richard Schulze have reached an agreement that allows him to conduct due diligence and form an investment group to make an official bid for the struggling electronics retailer and take it private.
After the due diligence process begins, Schulze will have 60 days in which to bring a fully financed, definitive proposal for the company, the Richfield, Minn.-based company said in a statement today. If the board of directors rejects that offer, Schulze has agreed not to pursue another proposal until January.
But Schulze would also have an opportunity to present an offer to shareholders at the company's annual meeting in January. If both attempts were to fail, Schulze has agreed not to pursue another bid for the company for a full year.
Schulze, who founded Best Buy in 1966 and served as the company's CEO until 2002, still owns 20 percent of the company. He has proposed paying between $24 and $26 per share in cash to the company to acquire the outstanding shares he doesn't own -- a premium of 36 percent to 47 percent over today's closing price of $17.87.
Schulze told the board earlier this month in a letter that ... [Read more]
via CNET http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/cnet/NnTv/~3/b3oRvxfWRJU/
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