Mexican billionaire wants Circuit City

Ricardo Salinas Pliego, head of the family that runs Mexico's Grupo Salinas, has acquired 47 million shares (28%) of Circuit City, buying 30 million shares for $0.24 each in the days following CC's bankruptcy filing.

Ricardo Salinas Pliego, who is on Forbes magazine's list of the world's richest people, is "banking on a great trademark, which is Circuit City," said Luis Nino de Rivera, a spokesman for Grupo Salinas, a conglomerate that controls television, retail and cellular businesses in Latin America.

"That's a very important name in the retail industry in the United States and it has great value. ... There's a great market opportunity here that certainly has to be looked at in detail," Nino de Rivera said in an interview with The Associated Press. [...]

Salinas and his family have been involved in the retail industry for the last 100 years, Nino de Rivera said. Among Salinas' businesses is Grupo Elektra, which operates more than 1,000 stores that sell electronics, furniture and appliances.

"Circuit City is right in line with that experience and with his family tradition," he said. "He is furthering his investments in a business he knows very well."

I think it's encouraging that someone who knows the business sees a future in it. And (presumably) sees a reasonably short-term return to growth.