Dixons Group Plc has now found its long-sought entree onto the US retailing scene, and is making a recommended tender offer for Cyclops Corp of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, which it describes as the third biggest electrical retailer in the US. Key attraction is the firm’s 110 out-of-town electrical stores, and the big question is whether Dixons will be giving the Amstrad PC1512 Personalikes their first major run in the US market through these stores. Cyclops also has 11 Busy Beaver do-it-yourself stores, and an industrial division that Dixons intends to sell immediately for $110m, getting back nearly a third of its $384m outlay. Dixons will raise the cash through a one-unit-for-two shares rights issue of UKP186m of redeemable convertible preference shares paying 5% and convertible into Dixons ordinaries at 375p against 346p in the market.
