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Broadband & Mobile Featured Article
December 07, 2007
CompUSA is Sold and Closing
By Tim Gray TMCnet Web Editor
Computer retailing giant CompUSA is shutting its doors following a buyout from an affiliate of Gordon Brothers Group LLC, a restructuring investment firm, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal.
The company reportedly made the announcement late Friday. The Gordon Brothers Group is also in discussions with various parties for the sale of certain assets, CompUSA said. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
Gordon Brothers Group, a Boston-based retail store liquidator, will oversee the piecemeal sale of the Dallas-based CompUSA, which has 103 retail stores in operation, the company said in a statement.
"An orderly and expedited wind-down and asset sale process is the best option for CompUSA and its creditors," Bill Weinstein, a principal at Gordon Brothers, said in a statement. Mr. Weinstein was named interim president of the firm. He was unavailable for immediate comment.
The privately held CompUSA is controlled by Mexican financier Carlos Slim Helu's Grupo Carso.
The rate of computer sales growth has been slowing in recent years, and other companies have also felt the pinch. Dell’s (News - Alert) consumer sales in the U.S. fell 26 percent in the first half of this year.
CompUSA was founded in 1984 as software seller Soft Warehouse, then branched out into computers. It took on the CompUSA name and went public in 1991. It bought Tandy's Computer City chain.
CompUSA closed more than half its stores earlier this year, providing company executives withy cash infusion of $440 million to restructure. However, it appears the money may have been too little, too late.
Tim Gray is a Web Editor for TMCnet, covering news in the IP
communications, call center and customer relationship management industries. To see more of his articles, please visit Tim Gray’s columnist page.
The company reportedly made the announcement late Friday. The Gordon Brothers Group is also in discussions with various parties for the sale of certain assets, CompUSA said. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
Gordon Brothers Group, a Boston-based retail store liquidator, will oversee the piecemeal sale of the Dallas-based CompUSA, which has 103 retail stores in operation, the company said in a statement.
"An orderly and expedited wind-down and asset sale process is the best option for CompUSA and its creditors," Bill Weinstein, a principal at Gordon Brothers, said in a statement. Mr. Weinstein was named interim president of the firm. He was unavailable for immediate comment.
The privately held CompUSA is controlled by Mexican financier Carlos Slim Helu's Grupo Carso.
The rate of computer sales growth has been slowing in recent years, and other companies have also felt the pinch. Dell’s (News - Alert) consumer sales in the U.S. fell 26 percent in the first half of this year.
CompUSA was founded in 1984 as software seller Soft Warehouse, then branched out into computers. It took on the CompUSA name and went public in 1991. It bought Tandy's Computer City chain.
CompUSA closed more than half its stores earlier this year, providing company executives withy cash infusion of $440 million to restructure. However, it appears the money may have been too little, too late.
Tim Gray is a Web Editor for TMCnet, covering news in the IP
communications, call center and customer relationship management industries. To see more of his articles, please visit Tim Gray’s columnist page.
