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Best Buy announced today their acquisition of Speakeasy, one of the largest independent VoIP brands in the U.S. The deal included a $97M price tag for Speakeasy, and is expected to be completed early next year. Speakeasy will operate as a wholly owned subsidiary of Best Buy, and operate through their big box retailer.
The acquisition is an effort for Best Buy to expand their offerings and control their distribution channels for home and business services. Best Buy will be using Speakeasy to target small business, providing VoIP functionality directly through them. This model is strikingly similar to the Geek Squad, which has additional services that align nicely with Best Buy's products. The overall objective is to continue to target somewhat niche aspects of home and business life. Being a retailer as well as a service provider surely looks great to investors, and will hopefully be economically beneficial for customers as well.