According to reports out of Japan Best Buy apparently hopes to improve its competitiveness by bringing D&M into the Best Buy stable however several retailers claim that the move is fraught with risks as retail competitors to Best Buy could drop the D&M brands from their portfolio of products.
According to US trade magazine TWICE, RHJ International SA/NV, which holds 49 pct of D&M, conducted a tender for D&M shares in late March and reduced buyer candidates to four--Best Buy, fund Bain Capital LLC, Japanese fund Advantage Partners LLP and U.S. brokerage house Merrill Lynch & Co.
The four candidates will examine and evaluate the assets of D&M more closely and submit detailed business programs to RHJ. RHJ, formerly called Ripplewood, will conduct a second tender as early as May to finalize the buyer for D&M.
D&M's main shareholders are U.S. buyout firm Ripplewood Holdings LLC and Dutch electronics maker Koninklijke (Royal) Philips Electronics NV, according to Reuters. RHJ International SA, a holding company owned by Ripplewood, is auctioning its roughly 49 percent in D&M, which has a market value of $277 million, Reuters said.
