Speculation is mounting that Carphone Warehouse will take control of its joint venture with Best Buy after billionaire Richard Schulze made a $8.84bn offer for the latter earlier this week.

Best Buy and Carphone share joint ownership of CWP Europe and Global Connect, a business focus on emerging market.

Broker Exane BNP Paribas believes that if Schulze’s bid is successful then both parties will consider their options for the joint ventures, The Independent reported.

Paribas said that, given the agreement between the companies contains options to buy each others’ stakes, Carphone is likely to take control of the European business while selling its stake in Global Connect.

Schulze, who was ousted as chairman in June, already owns 20% of Best Buy and is looking to team up with private equity firms to buy the remainder.

Schulze’s financial adviser Credit Suisse said it was confident the debt refinancing could be arranged after talks were held with private equity firms. Schulze would commit $1bn of his own money to the acquisition.

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