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Technology Stocks : Dell Technologies Inc. -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Patrick E.McDaniel who wrote (151898)	1/24/2000 9:51:00 PM
From: calgal	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 176388

Pat, This is going to be interesting. I was in a Dallas CompUSA this weekend and last. Competition from Dell is a huge problem. The other is customer service. It would be helpful if they would train the people that work there to understand what they are selling. :)Leigh "CompUSA has lost sales to direct sellers of PCs, such as Dell Computer Corp. and Gateway, and to electronics superstores Best Buy and Circuit City. Sales have continued to drop. The company lost $46 million in the year that ended in June and another $12.1 million in the following three months." marketwatch.newsalert.com CompUSA Shares Soar on Buyout News Associated Press Online - January 24, 2000 19:37 By DAVID KOENIG AP Business Writer DALLAS (AP) - Shares of CompUSA, the troubled computer retailer, soared 40 percent Monday after the company announced it is being purchased by Grupo Sanborns, a Mexican retail group that already owns nearly 15 percent. A spokeswoman for Dallas-based CompUSA said the deal was valued at about $1 billion in stock and debt. Sanborns will pay $10.10 in cash for each common share of CompUSA that it doesn't already own - a 50 percent premium over the chain's Friday closing price of $6.75. At 5 p.m. EST, shares of CompUSA stood at $9.50, up $2.75, on the New York Stock Exchange. Microsoft Corp., the regional U.S. telephone company SBC Communications, and the Mexican telephone company Telefonos de Mexico, or Telmex, will be minority investors, according to the deal unveiled Monday. The deal will put Sanborns and its chairman, Carlos Slim Domit, in a strong position to dominate computers and Internet access in the growing Mexican market, analysts said. "With Telmex, Microsoft and SBC all being investors, you get the telephony, the distribution and the Internet access all wrapped up in one package," said Rebecca Yarchover of U.S. Bancorp Piper Jaffray. Grupo Sanborns is the retail unit of Mexican conglomerate Grupo Carso, which is controlled by Domit's father, Carlos Slim Helu, widely considered Latin America's richest man. Slim Helu is also the controlling shareholder of Telmex, and has recently invested in online and wireless ventures. His group also controls Internet service provider Prodigy Communications Corp. Slim Domit said his group can improve CompUSA, which operates about 200 stores and has about 20,000 employees by "uniting excellent customer service, whether in-store or online." CompUSA announced last year it would cut up to 1,500 jobs, 7 percent of its work force, and shift its focus to consumer electronics. CompUSA has lost sales to direct sellers of PCs, such as Dell Computer Corp. and Gateway, and to electronics superstores Best Buy and Circuit City. Sales have continued to drop. The company lost $46 million in the year that ended in June and another $12.1 million in the following three months. "It's going to be a tall order to turn it around, no matter who owns it," said Scot Ciccarelli, an analyst with investment banker Gerard Klauer Mattison. Ciccarelli's conclusion of the Grupo takeover: "It seems like a pretty good deal to CompUSA shareholders," he said. CompUSA spokeswoman Suzanne Shelton said no immediate changes in jobs or headquarters are planned. Sanborns bought its stake in CompUSA in September. Analysts said Slim Domit switched from a passive to active investor in an early December filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, under which he reserved the right to make proposals regarding CompUSA. Grupo Sanborns owns and operates 305 stores in Mexico, including Sanborns, Sanborns Cafe, Sears Roebuck de Mexico, Pasteleria el Globo, Mix-up and Discolandia. It also makes food, household and personal-care items for sale in Mexico. It has more than 30,000 employees.