Big box retailer Best Buy said that it has reached an agreement to
acquire MindShift Technologies, a managed service provider for small
and midsize businesses, for $167 million. The company provides cloud
services, data center services and professional services to more than
5,400 clients and 25,000 managed desktops in markets throughout the
United States.
Through the acquisition, Best Buy said it would help MindShift
expand its capabilities for current and future SMB clients in
industries such as legal, health care, financial, non-profits,
associations and education. Like Best Buy’s purchase of Geek Squad in
2002, the goal of the acquisition is to support and leverage the proven
MindShift business model while giving its management the freedom and
resources to grow.
“There’s no question that acquiring the skills, capabilities and
clients of mindSHIFT has the potential to help expand Best Buy’s global
services capabilities in the vast small and mid-sized business market,”
said George Sherman, senior vice president of Best Buy Services. “As
important, the mindSHIFT team will bring added experience, talent and
resources to the remote support capability we have been building within
our multi-channel tech service unit Geek Squad.”
MindShift will continue to operate under its current name,
management team and capabilities, which currently include 500 employees
at offices in Boston; Long Island, N.Y.; Minneapolis; Morrisville,
N.C.; New York City; Philadelphia and Washington, D.C. The transaction,
which is expected to close on or around calendar year-end, is subject
to customary closing conditions.
“We are very closely aligned with Best Buy in both corporate vision,
and in our culture of integrity, customer value and results,” said Paul
Chisholm, chairman and CEO of MindShift. “Best Buy is committed as a
corporate objective to expand its small business IT services business,
and MindShift will be one of the foundations of this strategy.”
The companies said a combination of MindShift's capabilities and
Best Buy’s points of distribution through its retail, Geek Squad
services and Best Buy For Business operations is expected to create a
competitive advantage that would provide an opportunity for the two
companies to capture greater share within the estimated $40 billion SMB
managed services market.
Managed Services 
