NEW YORK — Best Buy’s co-founder is looking to make a buy of his own, offering to take the electronics seller private only months after leaving as the company’s chairman following a scandal involving its chief executive.
Best Buy said it would consider the offer but called it “highly conditional.” Analysts are skeptical that former Chairman Richard Schulze’s opening offer of $24 to $26 per share would get a deal done and that it could be tricky to line up investment firms to help pay for it.
It’s the latest twist in the Minneapolis company’s struggles to stay relevant as more and more people buy electronics online. Over the past year it has announced a major restructuring plan and fired its CEO. Best Buy is trying to avoid the fate of its rival Circuit City, which went bankrupt in 2009, partly because of changing shopper habits.
Schulze’s offer values the company at as much as $8.84 billion. He already has 20.1 percent of the stock in the company, so paying for the rest of the shares would mean coming up with about $6.9 billion.
Schulze had served as the Minneapolis-based company’s chairman until resigning in May after the scandal involving CEO Brian Dunn, who left amid allegations that he violated company policy by having an inappropriate relationship with a female employee. An investigation related to the matter said Schulze knew about the relationship and failed to alert the board or human resources.
Schulze had been expected to stay on the board until the company’s annual shareholder meeting in June, but he resigned unexpectedly before the meeting and said he was exploring options for his hefty stake in the company. Analysts had been expecting a possible bid since that announcement.
“There is no question that now is the moment of truth for Best Buy and that immediate and substantial changes are needed for the company to return to its market-leading ways,” Schulze said in a statement. “After assessing all of my options, it is my strong belief that Best Buy’s best chance for renewed success is to implement with urgency the necessary changes as a private company.”
Schulze’s offer would represent a 36 percent to 47 percent premium over the company’s Friday closing stock price.
Schulze said he would have preferred to pursue a deal privately but went public with the offer for the sake of speed.
“I am deeply concerned that further delay and indecision will cause additional loss of both value and talented leaders who are now uncertain of the company’s future,” Schulze said in a statement.
Schulze, 71, opened his first store called the Sound of Music in St. Paul, Minn., in 1966. He expanded the chain to nine stores in Minnesota by 1983 and renamed it Best Buy.
The company changed the electronics business, operating warehouse-style stores and putting all inventory on store floors, rather than keeping it in back rooms. Schulze was CEO for more than 30 years, steering it through decades of steady growth before relinquishing that title in 2002. He remained active on the board and is still the company’s largest shareholder.
In his letter to Best Buy’s board, Schulze said he has a plan to deal with the company’s challenges and has talked with private equity firms about joining in a deal, though he did not specify which firms. Schulze said he would finance the deal through a combination of private equity investments, about $1 billion of his own equity and debt. He said he was working with Credit Suisse to line up financing and that the firm was confident he could find lenders.
Shares rose $2.35, or 13.3 percent, to close at $19.99. That kept the stock well below Schulze’s offer, indicating shareholders are skeptical. Analysts also expressed doubt the deal would happen quickly.
“It’s got a lot of obstacles to overcome before we see a final deal consummated,” Morningstar analyst R.J. Hottovy said. He noted that Best Buy’s board has to approve any offer before Schulze can line up private equity financing, as required by Minnesota law, and that is unlikely to happen at the offering price, he said. An offer of $30 would be more appropriate, according to his calculations.
Best Buy has been shrinking store size and focusing on its more-profitable products such as mobile phones. It’s also trying to combat the so called “showrooming” of its stores - when people browse at Best Buy but purchase electronics goods elsewhere, especially online.
In March, it announced a major restructuring that includes closing 50 stores, cutting 400 corporate jobs and trimming $800 million in costs.
Since Dunn’s departure, interim CEO Mike Mikan has made strong statements about how he plans to restructuring the company, focusing on services and revamping stores.
In early July, Best Buy said it would lay off 600 staff members in its Geek Squad technical support division and 1,800 other store workers.
Business, Pages 24 on 08/07/2012