London — Best Buy closed on its 50-50 joint venture with Great Britain’s Carphone Warehouse today.
Best Buy paid its wireless partner $2.1 billion in cash in return for a half interest in the company’s 2,400 stores located in nine European countries under the Carphone Warehouse and Phone House brands.
The deal also includes Carphone’s Geek Squad operations in the United Kingdom and Spain; its online and direct-sale operations; its insurance and airtime reselling businesses; future Best Buy stores in Europe; and Best Buy Mobile, the partners’ two-year-old wireless program that is being rolled out to all U.S. Best Buy stores this year.
