Best Buy buys Speakeasy IT provider

Consumer electronics retailer Best Buy Co., Inc. (NYSE: BBY) will be purchasing Speakeasy Inc., which provides a host of broadband Internet services in the voice, data and IT services field. The acquisition will cost Best Buy about $97 million and is expected to allow Best Buy to take a stronger lead in the small business arena where it continues to make larger dents.

Best Buy for Business is the unit the retailer uses to focus in on the small business market's increasing need for smaller (but lucrative) IT services. These are the businesses without the resources for a full-time IT staff but who constantly rely on computer and IT services. What business -- large or small -- isn't constantly relying on some kind of IT expertise to gain that competitive advantage? Probably none.

Speakeasy will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Best Buy and of course will have its services integrated into Best Buy for Business's services portfolio. At this time, Speakeasy has about 300 employees and more than 40,000 customers. The retailer also said that the whole Speakeasy executive team will stay with the company post-acquisition.