Blockbuster Offers to Buy Circuit City, Have Sad Date Talking About Good Old Times

Blockbuster has offered $6 minimum per share to buy out Circuit City, with the intention of creating a $18 billion global retail enterprise. You can almost see the point of mixing media and device retail, but is this actually a good move for two companies facing a not-so-bright future? Read more in the Blockbuster press release after the jump. [PCWorld]

February 17, 2008

Mr. Philip J. Schoonover
Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer
Circuit City Stores, Inc.
9950 Mayland Drive
Richmond, VA 23233
Dear Phil:

Since early December, we have had a number of conversations regarding the potential combination of our businesses. As a follow-up to those discussions, I would like to formally reiterate our interest in pursuing an acquisition of Circuit City. The purpose of this letter is to ensure that there is no ambiguity and to outline our proposal.

Our vision for the "new" Blockbuster is to be the most convenient source for media entertainment. We have undertaken a series of strategic initiatives including enhancement of our core rental business; a transition from solely rental to a concentration on consumer retail; and development of the fast-growing digital download market. We are pleased that these strategic initiatives have begun to improve our financial results and anticipate further improvement going forward.

The combination of Blockbuster and Circuit City will result in an $18 billion retail enterprise uniquely positioned for the convergence of media content and electronic devices. We would seek to differentiate products in both Blockbuster and Circuit City stores by offering exclusive content and content-enabled devices. Both companies would benefit from complementary products, marketing, management strengths, technology and distribution and the resulting synergies would significantly improve consolidated financial performance. Overall, I strongly believe that a combination of Blockbuster and Circuit City would deliver significant value to our respective shareholders, enhance the overall customer experience, and energize our employees.

Based on our review of publicly available information, we are confident that we can provide a substantial premium to your shareholders with an all cash offer in the range of $6.00 to $8.00 per share, subject to due diligence. We are also willing to pursue alternative structures which would enable Circuit City shareholders to receive stock and participate in what we believe would be an exciting future for the combined enterprise. Given current debt market conditions, we believe most of the cash necessary would

be generated through the issuance of additional Blockbuster equity, most probably in a rights offering to our existing shareholders. We believe they, and the market, will recognize the merits of this transaction and we are confident that we can raise the required equity. The borrowing capacity of the combined business would provide the remaining cash proceeds.

Time is of the essence and we are focused on minimizing the risk of business disruption. We are prepared to commence a very short due diligence process immediately, on the basis of exclusivity, with the intention of entering into a definitive agreement shortly thereafter. Attached, as an appendix to this letter, you will find a concise list of the most critical due diligence items which we would need to review in order to confirm our final offer. We have reviewed this potential transaction with our board of directors, and it is with their full support that we make this request to move forward. Given the importance of this opportunity to Blockbuster and the strong desire to complete it as soon as possible, we would be grateful for your response no later than 5:00 PM CST on February 21, 2008.

Again, I thank you for the time you have spent discussing this opportunity with me. I am prepared to discuss the details of this proposal at your earliest convenience and believe that we will be able to quickly come to a mutually beneficial agreement. I look forward to working together on this exciting opportunity.

Very truly yours,

Jim Keyes
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
Blockbuster Inc.

Contact information for this author is not available.

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