JSM Financial: U.S. private equity firm Blackstone Group is keen to buy RadioShack.

June 1, 2010 - PRLog -- After the first round of bids for the American electronics retailer RadioShack, JSM Financial has learned that the U.S. private equity firm Blackstone Group LP has come out leading the pack.

Earlier this year the news broke that RadioShack was considering alternatives which included a share buyback or a possible sale of the firm which could net over $3 billion.

JSM Financial was informed that while RadioShack has declined to comment and a spokesman for the firm told reporters via email that the company didn’t discuss market rumors and speculation a source close to the matter was recently quoted as having said that RadioShack “likely will settle for a bid in the $20s –per-share range,” and the deal is expected to be completed in the next few months.

Other reports indicate that the firm’s Chief Executive Julian Day has encouraged Goldman Sachs to speed up the auction.

Other interested parties are believed to be private equity firms Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. (KKR), Bain Capital, and TPG, as well as a possible bid by a potential corporate buyer, JSM was told.

It is at this stage unclear whether the Fort Worth, Texas-based RadioShack’s bigger competitor Best Buy has lodged a bid but many analysts believe that a combination of the two would make the most sense with best Buy’s current expansion in wireless business through its Best Buy Mobile.

"We think that (RadioShack's) strategic complement to Best Buy is stronger than other people seem to think,” JSM Financial believes one market analyst said. "We continue to believe that RadioShack's fundamentals are good here."

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