Best Buy Shares Soar After Founder Offers $8.8B To Buy It

The company’s stock is up about 19% to around $21 in early trading following the disclosure of the offer from Richard Schulze. In a letter today to board Chairman Hatim Tyabji, Schulze said that his adviser, Credit Suisse, is “highly confident that it can arrange the necessary debt financing” to pay as much as $26 a share for Best Buy — 47% more than its closing price on Friday. “I believe there is an urgent need for Best Buy to reinvigorate growth by reconnecting with today’s customers and building pathways to the next generation of consumers,” the letter says. His proposed acquisition “would allow Best Buy to take the actions that it needs to take outside of the public sphere.” Schulze is by far the largest shareholder, with 20.1% of Best Buy’s shares. He resigned from the board in June, upending a face-saving arrangement reached in May after the Audit Committee said in a report that Schulze helped to cover up former CEO Brian Dunn’s “inappropriate relationship” with a female employee.

Here’s Schulze’s letter: (more…)