Best Buy invests £1.1bn in Carphone Warehouse

The assets of the newly-formed company will comprise The Carphone Warehouse's existing retail business, operating from more than 2,400 stores in nine European countries under the Carphone Warehouse and Phone House brands; and The Carphone Warehouse's share of its existing relationships with Best Buy. On completion of the transaction, The Carphone Warehouse and Best Buy will each own 50% of the retail business, comprising all the 2,400 stores, the web and direct businesses, the insurance operations, and its airtime reselling businesses. The Carphone Warehouse continues to own 100% of its fixed line telecoms business in the U.K., comprising TalkTalk, AOL Broadband and Opal; and its share of the Virgin Mobile France joint venture. The Carphone Warehouse plans to use the proceeds of the transaction to repay existing debt, to invest in broadband customer growth and infrastructure, and to invest in new areas of growth presented by the transaction.

The transaction is subject to the approval of The Carphone Warehouse's shareholders. The directors of The Carphone Warehouse have unanimously agreed to vote in favour of the resolution to approve the transaction at the extraordinary general meeting scheduled to take place by early August.