Earlier this month Kesa shares rose as much as 14% in London trading on speculation that the operator of Comet.
It has been reported that Best Buy may make an offer, the Financial Times Alphaville column said, without saying whether it was referring to Best Buy Co. or Best Buy Europe, a joint venture between the Richfield, Minnesota-based company and Carphone Warehouse Group Plc.
A A spokesman for Kesa declined to comment. Best Buy Europe “never coments on speculation or rumor,” spokesman Shane Conway said. Messages left with Best Buy spokespeople weren’t immediately returned.
On the other side of this coin, a deal “seems unlikely,” said Andy Wade, an analyst at Numis Securities in London. “I’m not convinced that it makes total sense,” he said by phone.
Shortly after this Kesa Electricals, which also owns Darty France, posted an 8.2% increase in total revenue growth for the period from May 1st to July 31st 2010.
It operates 251 Comet
Chief executive Thierry Falque-Pierrotin said demand for television at its retail business properties thanks to the football World Cup was one of the main reasons behind the strong performance.
The company saw “excellent TV sales in all markets during the period”, he remarked, but added: “We still anticipate that our markets will remain challenging for the remainder of this financial year.”
Comet
But despite this rumours of a takeover bid from Best Buy have persisted with the Mail reporting the same rumours in a recent article.
The Mail reports that “Best Buy has cash to burn” and an acquisition wish list headed by Kesa Electricals, owner of British chain Comet and European electrical retailer Darty.
More than 21million Kesa shares changed hands in one day (12th October) against a normal trading session of around 3million. The stock traded nearly 12 per cent higher in early afternoon trading before falling back and closing 14.4p up at 165.2p.
Other rumours touted private equity majors as a likely bidder for Kesa, with a bid price of 250p suggested by one market watcher as ‘outlandish but not unreasonable’ for a stock trading at 105p as recently as June.
So, in essence, it’s all up in the air with no clarity in what will ultimately happen to Kesa and, therefore, Comet. Rumours of a major aquisition by Best Buy to secure its presence in the EU and specifically the UK have been abound since before they even opened their first UK store. Even then a buyout of either Currys or Comet
So, don’t be too surprised in the signage suddenly changes to blue and yellow at retail parks around the UK. Just which shop will change its livery remains to be seen.