Best Buy snaps up 3% stake in Carphone

US consumer electricals chain Best Buy has taken a 3 per cent stake in Carphone Warehouse.

Best Buy said the purchase would underpin its partnership with Carphone Warehouse, but some analysts speculated it could be the precursor to a bid.

Best Buy bought the stake for US$183 million (£91.5 million) during the three months to August 26.

Last year, Carphone Warehouse signed a joint venture with Best Buy under which the two companies are opening between 150 and 200 mobile retail stores in the US, starting in New York. The stores are branded Best Buy Mobile.

In the UK, Carphone Warehouse is rolling out Best Buy’s Geek Squad, its highly successful technology support services unit. DSGi’s Tech Guys support services offer in the UK is understood to have been modelled on Geek Squad.

Collins Stewart analyst Mark James said a bid by Best Buy for Carphone was plausible. “Best Buy has shown an interest in breaking into the UK and [Carphone] management have made encouraging noises regarding [Carphone’s] store-within-the-store roll-out in the US.”