Best Buy talks with its founder said to have ended

Richard Sennott/The Star Tribune, via associated PressRichard Schulze, the founder of Best Buy in a store in April 2000.

Efforts of Richard Schulze grab Best Buy, the electronics retailer struggling he founded nearly 47 years, have ended.

Talks between Best Buy and a group consisting of Mr. Schulze and three private equity firms have ended, people briefed on the matter, to say DealBook Thursday. Discussions could resume at some point, one of these people has warned.

By the end, M. Schulze and business - Cerberus Capital Management, Leonard Green & Partners and TPG Capital - had negotiated to buy a larger stake in Best Buy that would have added to its roughly 20 percent of the shares, these people said.

Any prospect of a complete takeover of Best Buy had disappeared several weeks ago they added, after the consortium of investors found little appetite for debt which is involved in an acquisition debt.

Shares of Best Buy had already fallen earlier on Thursday, after the Star Tribune of Minneapolis reported that the founder had evolved to try for a minority stake in the retailer. They closed at $16,41, leading to a market value of only $ 5.6 billion $.

By comparison, when Mr. Schulze first revealed its potential interest to buy the whole of the electronic chain, a takeover bid would have been worth more than 8.8 billion $.

Shares of Best Buy fell more than 11 percent since word of interest of Mr. Schulze in a possible taken control first emerged last June.

Best Buy is expected to give a final update on discussions when it announces earnings quarterly Friday.