Reuters – Best Buy’s Schulze ‘Not Going Away’

Best Buy founder Richard Schulze on Thursday repeated his call for the consumer electronics chain’s board to grant him access to the financial information he needs to secure financing for a bid for the retailer. “I am deeply concerned about the direction of the company and, as Best Buy`s largest shareholder, I cannot simply stand aside,” Schulze said in an August 16 letter to the board. “I still hope to work with the board on a mutually beneficial transaction – but you should know that I am not going away.” Earlier this month, the 71-year-old Schulze expressed an interest in buying the struggling retailer for $8.16 billion to $8.84 billion, or $24 to $26 a share, Reuters wrote.

(Reuters) – Best Buy founder Richard Schulze on Thursday repeated his call for the consumer electronics chain’s board to grant him access to the financial information he needs to secure financing for a bid for the retailer.

“I am deeply concerned about the direction of the company and, as Best Buy`s largest shareholder, I cannot simply stand aside,” Schulze said in an August 16 letter to the board. “I still hope to work with the board on a mutually beneficial transaction – but you should know that I am not going away.”

The news came just days after sources told Reuters that several private equity firms that have been approached to join in a buyout of Best Buy are sitting on the fence, citing the lack of a tangible plan by Schulze, and doubts about his ability to pull off the deal.

Earlier this month, the 71-year-old Schulze expressed an interest in buying the struggling retailer for $8.16 billion to $8.84 billion, or $24 to $26 a share. Including the assumption of Best Buy’s debt, the total value would be $10.9 billion, making it the year’s biggest leveraged buyout so far.

“You can easily test how real my proposal is by granting me permission to form a group and by providing basic due diligence information necessary to present a fully financed offer,” Schulze said in a letter to the board of the world’s largest consumer electronics chain.

The unsolicited proposal comes at a time when the company Schulze founded in 1966 is struggling to compete with online and discount rivals, and tackle its own unwieldy size.

(Reporting By Dhanya Skariachan; Editing by Maureen Bavdek)