U.S. electronics store Best Buy said today that it is paying $2.1 billion for half of Carphone Warehouse in order to enter the European consumer electronics market, Reuters reports. Carphone’s 2,400 existing stores will continue to operate under the Carphone Warehouse and Phone House brands in nine European markets, and starting in 2009 the new company will roll out larger stores under the Best Buy name. Previously, Best Buy teamed up with Carphone Warehouse to create Best Buy Mobile in the U.S. The concept will be added to all Best Buy stores this year. The two companies also have been collaborating to bring Geek Squad technical support to European markets. Best Buy said the consumer electronics category is the fastest-growing in European retail over the past five years and represents about a £89 billion ($175 billion) market. The two companies expect growth to be led by the convergence in entertainment, computing and communications. Release.