Large US-based electronics retailer Best Buy announced on Monday an agreement to buy mindShift, a provider of managed services to small and mid-size businesses (SMB).

The buyer said it expects to close the US$167m deal by the end of 2011. The purchase broadens Best Buy's reach into the SMB space beyond that of its existing Best Buy for Business division.

The company said its points of distribution at retail outlets and through Best Buy for Business and Geek Squad channels will give mindShift a competitive advantage in the managed-service-provider (MSP) space.

Best Buy cited an estimate that the current size of the MSP market for small and mid-sized businesses was $40bn. Commending on the deal, George Sherman, senior VP of Best Buy's Services division, said, “There's no question that acquiring the skills, capabilities and clients of mindSHIFT has the potential to help expand Best Buy's global services capabilities in the vast small and mid-sized business market.

"As important, the mindSHIFT team will bring added experience, talent and resources to the remote support capability we have been building within our multi-channel tech service unit Geek Squad." About 5,400 clients use mindShift's data center, professional services and Cloud-based services.

The company provides about 25,000 managed desktops across the US. Like it did after it bought Geek Squad, Best Buy plans to retain the mindShift brand and let its current management team and about 500 employees continue to operate the company.