Electronics aren’t the only thing Best Buy is looking to sell at a discount.
As it gears up for the crucial holiday season, the embattled retailer is open to considering a lowered bid from founder Richard Schulze, who in August offered $24 to $26 a share for the chain, The Post has learned.
While Best Buy’s board had initially rebuffed Schulze’s approach, it has since shifted its stance and is now open to a bid of around $20 a share, according to sources close to the company.
Representatives of Best Buy and Schulze declined to comment.
The about-face has followed the arrival of CEO Hubert Joly, a former restaurant-and-hotel exec who was tapped in August. Recently, top Best Buy execs have met with Schulze about the prospect of a potential buyout, sources said.
Indeed, Joly believes that a sale of the company in the range of $20 a share would be “a good outcome” for Best Buy and its investors, according to one source briefed on the situation.
A sale at that price would amount to $6.7 billion — sorely short of Schulze’s previous bid that valued the company at more than $8 billion.
Best Buy shares on Friday lost $1.50 to close at $13.75, giving the company a market capitalization of $4.6 billion.
The stock has been tanking on concerns about its turnaround prospects under Joly, who has scant experience running retail stores.
Joly last week outlined a plan to overhaul the retailer that included aggressively matching prices at competitors, including online giant Amazon.
Best Buy shares tumbled nearly 10 percent on Friday, however, after a Citigroup analyst raised doubts whether Joly’s strategy would work.
Best Buy reports third-quarter results tomorrow, and private-equity firms being wooed by Schulze to support his bid will be scrutinized the company’s sales and margins.