By Allen Tsai | Thu May 08, 2008 2:10 am |
Best Buy, the world's largest consumer electronics retailer, is paying $2.1 billion for a 50 percent stake in Europe's largest cell phone retailer, the companies announced today.
The joint venture will sell consumer electronics in Europe and the United States, through Carphone Warehouse's 2,400 existing stores as well as online. The companies also said they would introduce Best Buy stores across Europe.Best Buy International's chief executive, Robert Willett will be the chairman of the joint venture, while Carphone Warehouse's chief financial officer, Roger Taylor, will be the chief executive. Carphone Warehouse's broad operations are not included, and Best Buy will keep the 2.9% stake it owns in Carphone Warehouse. "It is clear that we have very complementary cultures, skills and assets - it's a perfect match," Charles Dunstone, CEO of The Carphone Warehouse said. "It is also clear that we have a significant opportunity for incremental growth in our retail business which we can best realize with Best Buy on board." The two companies worked on developing Best Buy Mobile, and have been collaborating to bring Geek Squad, a 24-hour computer support task force, to European markets. "We believe our combined expertise has potential to result in significant financial upside as we together attempt to transform retail in Europe through the Carphone Warehouse, Phone House and Best Buy brands," said Brian Dunn, president and chief operating officer. The deal is subject to approval by Carphone Warehouse shareholders at the annual general meeting in August.
|
|
Thu Feb 09, 2012 1:29 pm | By
Google is prepping a cloud-based service, called "Drive," to compete in the fast growing business of virtual storage.
|
|
|
|
Thu Feb 09, 2012 12:56 pm | By
Google aims to take a percentage of every iPhone sold after completing its Motorola acquisition, raising questions over whether current patent fair use standards support fair business practices.
|
|
|
|
Thu Feb 09, 2012 12:41 pm | By
Apple may shift litigation strategies, attacking the process of "copying" rather than products, after losing a critical patent battle to Samsung in Germany, raising questions of the iPad maker's costly and aggressive tactics.
|
|
|
|
Thu Feb 09, 2012 12:30 pm | By
Mobile payments are far from secure, as a Google Wallet security breach illustrates even major mobile companies struggle to protect privacy.
|
|
|
|
Thu Feb 09, 2012 12:06 pm | By
A proposed bill in Congress would strip the FCC's power to monitor spectrum auctioning, potentially opening up the airwaves to Verizon and AT&T and hobbling smaller carriers like Sprint.
|
|
|
|
] |
CellReception.com |
CellRisk.com |
Appedia.com |
Tabletedia.com
[ 
] |
iTVedia.com