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Richard Schulze is in danger of blowing another deadline.
Efforts by the Best Buy founder to cobble together a buyout offer for the electronics retailer are hitting snags, sapping investor hopes for a bid in the coming days, sources told The Post.
Schulze is still a “long ways” from making a firm bid for the struggling electronics retailer, a source close to the process said, as he scrambles to corral private-equity firms into a buyout team.
Earlier this month, Best Buy’s board granted Schulze an extension until mid-December to examine the company’s books and prepare a buyout offer of as much as $7 billion.
An insider said it was not unreasonable to think that a bid will flirt with the mid-December deadline — and possibly miss it.
While sources say Best Buy’s board could give Schulze another extension, the delays have raised worries that Schulze is facing intractable execs from private-equity shops who are demanding control of the retailer as a condition for signing onto a deal.
Buyout firms that have lately jockeyed for position include Cerberus Capital Management, TPG Capital and Leonard Green & Partners, sources said.
Best Buy shares in recent days have tumbled on investor jitters that a takeover deal could be in danger.
Yesterday, the shares closed at $12.95, down 40 cents, or 3 percent.
As reported by The Post, Best Buy CEO Hubert Joly, who has admitted a turnaround will be tough, has lately signaled that the company would be open to a bid of $20 a share.
Best Buy shares tumbled nearly 13 percent last week, hitting their lowest levels in a decade, as the retailer swung to a third-quarter loss on a steeper-than-expected sales decline.
Sales tumbled 3.6 percent to $10.75 billion, hit by fierce competition with Amazon and sluggish demand for TVs, laptops and digital cameras.