Beleaguered Napster (NYSE: NAPS) shareholders got a nice surprise today. That is, Best Buy (NYSE: BBY) agreed to buy the online-music operator for $2.65 per share. On the news, the stock price surged 86%. Although, it's still a relatively small deal - amounting to about $121 million.

Something else: Napster already has about $67 million in the bank.

All in all, it looks like a good move for Best Buy. After all, the music CD market is evaporating.

For the most part, Napster has about 700,000 subscribers (there is a monthly fee), which should get a nice boost from the huge distribution of Best Buy. In fact, the platform could eventually allow for other digital offerings, such as videos.

Of course, there is tremendous competition in the space, such as from Amazon.com (NASDAQ: AMZN) and Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL). However, Best Buy can certainly find creative ways to bundle products and services -- making things compelling for its customers.

Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including The Complete M&A Handbook and The Edgar Online Guide to Decoding Financial Statements. He is also the founder of BizEquity, a valuation website

Best Buy nabs Napster originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 15 Sep 2008 13:46:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

TPG is causing some consternation in the UK. You see, the private equity firm has agreed to invest £179 million in Bradford & Bingley (B&B), which is a beleaguered financial institution.

Essentially, B&B investors are worried that TPG has structured an airtight deal to prevent other bidders from coming to the table. Another concern is an antidilution clause (which protects TPG if B&B's stock price falls).

In fact, shareholders will vote on the deal on July 7th. So yes, there should be some drama.

And, TPG isn't taking any risks. Actually, the firm plans to go on a major roadshow with investors. I'm sure it will be intense - but helpful.

However, it looks like B&B is in a tough spot. In light of the deterioration of its business, the firm needs to work fast. And, if the TPG deal falls through, it's a good bet that B&B's stock price will go into a tailspin.

Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including The Complete M&A Handbook and The Edgar Online Guide to Decoding Financial Statements. He also operates MergerBook.com.

TPG makes nice with investors originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 30 Jun 2008 15:21:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The country's second largest retail movie rental chain, Movie Gallery (NASDAQ:MOVI) has collapsed in early trading, down 75% to $.50. The stock has traded as high as $6.78 over the last 52 weeks.

The company blames soft sales for causing it to fail to honor the financial terms of its senior credit facility. Movie Gallery says it is down to $50 million in cash, and may have to sell the company. But, it is unclear whether creditors can simply step in an take the company over, a move that would certainly hurt holders of the common stock.

Movie Gallery is actually a fairly big business. With sales of $2.5 billion last year, it has revenue that is close to 40% of Blockbuster's, which is the No.1 retailer in the industry. Blockbuster's (NYSE:BBI) shares have been up recently as the company brought on a new CEO. But, the stock is still about 50% below where it traded two years ago.

The Movie Gallery troubles should cause concern among Blockbuster shareholders. Traffic at Movie Gallery stores is down sharply and there is no reason to believe that the Q2 trend would not have also hurt the larger company.

Douglas A. McIntyre is a partner at 24/7 Wall St.

Movie Gallery's shares move toward zero originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 03 Jul 2007 10:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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