Dallas-based electronics retailer CompUSA Inc., which is part of Mexican financier Carlos Slim Helu's conglomerate Grupo Carso SA, has reportedly put itself up for sale, The Dallas Morning News reported. Carso has hired Credit Suisse to run the auction of the 230-store chain. The Morning News suggests that private equity firms are the likely buyers, but doesn't identify any specific firms. However, one likely bidder could be former CompUSA CEO Larry Mondry, who reportedly left the retailer in May to join an unidentified private equity firm. The news of the auction comes less than two weeks after the retailer announced a second new CEO. Former Philip Morris executive Roman Ross, who oversaw the tobacco giant's Mexican division, became CEO on Sept. 1 replacing Tony Weiss, who had only held the position since Mondry's exit. Interestingly, Slim's firm holds a stake in Philip Morris' Mexican business. Although only in the position of CEO for four months, Weiss, an 18 year veteran who started as a sales associate, was the COO before the promotion, and is credited with CompUSA's turnaround and expansion beyond computers and into the bigger consumer electronics market. Weiss and Mondry oversaw the 2003 acquisition of California electronics retailer Goody Guys, which CompUSA used as a model for its restructuring. —Matthew Wurtzel
See story from The Dallas Morning News
See related story about Ross hiring from BusinessWeek
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