Best Buy To Buy GreatCall For $800 Mln

(RTTNews) - Electronics retailer Best Buy Co. Inc. (BBY), Wednesday said it has agreed to buy GreatCall Inc. for $800 million in cash.

GreatCall is a provider of connected health and personal emergency response services to the aging population, with more than 900,000 paying subscribers. It offers easy-to-use mobile products and connected devices tailored for aging consumers.

David Inns, CEO of GreatCall, said, "We are excited to partner with Best Buy to serve the active aging population on a bigger scale. GreatCall is already a growing, profitable business with annual revenue in excess of $300 million. By joining forces, we can do even more for this population, combining our products, services and expertise with Best Buy's customer focus and scale to meaningfully expand our reach."

GreatCall will maintain its San Diego headquarters, as well as its Care Centers in Carlsbad, California, and Reno, Nevada. Inns, who has been with GreatCall since its formation in 2006, will remain as CEO.

The acquisition is subject to regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions and is expected to close by the end of Best Buy's fiscal 2019 third quarter.

The company expects the impact of the acquisition on its adjusted earnings to be neutral in fiscal 2019 and fiscal 2020 and accretive by fiscal 2021.

BBY closed Wednesday's trading at $76.38, down $2.15 or 2.74%, on the NYSE.