PCR Tech and IT retail, distribution and vendor news
Systemax is poised to purchase several assets of the failed US consumer electronics retailer Circuit City, in a deal thought to be worth an estimated $6.5bn (£4.5bn).
Court documents revealed the transaction, with Systemax – owner of Misco in the UK – set to pick up the brand name, trademarks, domains of the former retailer in an auction, due to be held on May 11th.
The deal will also encompass Circuit City’s website content, customer data and the retailer’s free-call numbers, as well as certain patents, both granted and applied for.
In the filing, issued April 9th, the documents state: "In the course of their continued liquidation, the sellers have identified various assets — including the intellectual property and Internet assets — that are valuable but for which the sellers have no use going forward. The sellers have thus determined that the sale of the intellectual property and internet assets would bring significant recovery for the sellers’ estates and creditors."
Speaking to TWICE, Systemax said it was hopeful that the deal would go through, and that if completed: "would further extend its position as a leader in online retailing of value-priced, branded consumer electronics."
US independent chain store PC Richards and Son also signed a deal that would see five former Circuit City stores in the New York metropolitan area re-open under the firm’s brand.
Speaking to the New Jersey-based Home News Tribune and Courier News, three of the stores will be based in Bricktown, East Brunswick and Eatontown. The other two will be based in Norwalk, Connecticut and College Point, Queens, New York.
Speaking to the newspaper, the chain’s chief executive Gary Richard said: "There are new opportunities where we can move into new markets and also get some good real estate. We were stable before the economic crisis, and we still are today."
The new stores are expected to open in June and will bring the chain’s store number to 56.