Best Buy, Schulze Agree to Extend Bid Deadline

December 14, 2012 by Paul Ausick

BestBuy storefront OK
Source: courtesy Best Buy Co. Inc.
The weekend deadline for Richard Schulze to make an offer for Best Buy Co. Inc. (NYSE: BBY) has been extended to February 28, according to reports at CNBC.com and Reuters. Schulze, who founded the company in 1966, had been expected to make an offer of $5 billion to $6 billion for Best Buy this weekend.

The extension has been granted to give Schulze a look at Best Buy’s fourth-quarter and full-year results for the year ending in January. Best Buy is scheduled to report earnings on February 28, the same day as Schulze’s extension expires.

Best Buy had a dismal third quarter, posting a net loss of $0.04 per share and a same-store sales decline of 4.3%. The company has tried to combat “showrooming” — shoppers using smartphones to compare prices while in the store and then making the purchase either online or at another store — by giving sales staff more authority to match prices. That is a customer-friendly approach, all right, but it plays havoc on margins.

Shares of Best Buy are down more than 13% today at $12.20, after rising by more than 15% yesterday on news that Schulze’s offer would be forthcoming this weekend. The stock’s 52-week range is $11.41 to $27.95.

Paul Ausick

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