Five years after Best Buy entered Europe through a $2.15 billion joint venture deal, the worlds largest consumer electronics retailer has tapped one of the worlds largest firms for counsel on its $775 million exit from the continent.
Baker & McKenzie has taken the lead advising Best Buy on the cash-and-stock sale of its 50 percent stake in Best Buy Europe, a joint venture with London-based partner and independent mobile and home phone retailer The Carphone Warehouse Group that operates almost 2,400 stores in eight countries. Best Buy, which announced it will take a $200 million asset impairment charge as part of the sale, has been scaling back its global ambitions to focus on its home market.
