Samsung and Best Buy, one of the biggest retailers in the U.S., already enjoy quite a comfortable relationship. The Korean manufacturer has opened up “Experience Shops” in nearly 1,400 Best Buy outlets, which are essentially a Samsung store within a Best Buy store. The outlets benefit from the foot traffic while Best Buy would presumably be earning from loaning out its retail space. Recently there was chatter in South Korea that perhaps Samsung might be willing to take its relationship with Best Buy to the next level, by acquiring a stake in the retailer. Today Samsung has officially put those rumors to rest by issuing a short and to the point statement on its blog.
In a statement on the official Samsung Tomorrow blog, the company says that reports about Samsung considering acquiring a stake in Best Buy are “not true.” It further adds that no talks have taken place between Samsung and Best Buy regarding “stock acquisition of either company.” Rumors about the possibility of this stake acquisition were first floated by a Korea Times report, which also claimed that Samsung vice chairman Lee Jae-Yong had met with senior Best Buy executives to discuss “pending business issues.” One can only guess what these pending issues are.