Tokyo, Apr 11, 2008 (JCN) - Top U.S. home electronics retailer Best Buy Co. has joined the race to buy Japanese audio equipment maker D&M Holdings Inc. <6735>, informed sources told Jiji Press on Friday.
Best Buy apparently hopes to improve its competitiveness by bringing D&M, known for high-end brands such as Denon and Marantz, under its wing, the sources said.
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, U.S. 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.
For the year that closed in March, D&M is seen reporting record earnings, with consolidated sales estimated at 108.5 billion yen and operating profit at 6.4 billion yen.
If the buyer acquires all the outstanding shares in D&M, the cost is expected to exceed 50 billion yen.
Best Buy operates some 1,200 stores in the United States. Its sales network also covers Canada and China. The U.S. retailer, which has annual sales of 35.9 billion dollars, is the largest client of D&M.
The world's largest audio equipment maker, Harman International Industries Inc. of the United States, known for its JBL speakers, was outbid in the first tender.
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