If Best Buy Founder Richard Schulze wants to make an offer for the company, he�ll need to do so by midnight tonight. That�s the deadline Best Buy gave him more than two and a half months ago. Since then, of course, he has fallen silent.
Schulze now seems more interested in regaining the chairmanship, The Star-Tribune reports. He lost the position when he was ousted last year over a scandal with then CEO Brian Dunn. Schulze, still the largest shareholder, is hoping to increase his ownership stake and hold more power on the board.
Best Buy extended the timeline so Schulze could look at the holiday figures. The early numbers Best Buy released were a surprise. They showed a halt to the slide in U.S. sales that have plagued the company. Best Buy originally planned to report full fourth-quarter numbers this afternoon, but decided to delay until tomorrow so that Schulze had the full day to scrutinize his plans.
Shares of Best Buy fell 2.1% to $16.25 in early afternoon trading.
Schulze last summer said he was interested in purchasing the Minnesota company he founded in 1966. Analysts and observers have speculated Schulze may be having trouble securing the financing for the bid. The deal could total as much as $11 billion. Instead, Schulze may be mulling a way to increase his stake in Best Buy.
The company experienced an revolving carousel of executives last year as it continued to struggle to chart a new path. The man who started the year as CEO, Dunn, was fired for an inappropriate relationship with a female employee. His interim replacement, director G. Michael Mikan, was replaced by the current CEO, Hubert Joly. While Joly doesn�t have any retail experience, he does have turnaround clout.
A skill set that Best Buy badly needs. Joly calls his transition efforts �Renew Blue.� They focus on combating showrooming, when customers visit Best Buy�s stores and use their smartphone to find a better price online. Best Buy now has a broad price-match policy that could help it better compete with Amazon.com, Walmart.com and Target.com. And Best Buy is emphasizing its customer service personnel: the Geek Squad. Best Buy is betting that real, live humans that can provide instant, in-person advice can help make it seem a better destination than visiting Amazon.com.
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