Icahn wants to sell Blockbuster (BBI)

Carl Icahn's latest regulatory filing is short and to the point.

Here's is what it says about Blockbuster (ticker: BBI):

On April 18, 2005,  Mr. Icahn  expressed  his belief that Issuer should
put itself up for sale.

Quick comment: In case Mr. Icahn doesn't remember, Blockbuster did put itself up for sale a few months ago in the form of its split-off from Viacom (ticker: VIAB).  That transaction was completed in October 2004.

Since that sale, BBI's prospects have only gotten worse:  mass-market retailers like Wal-Mart (ticker: WMT) continue to drive consumers to buy DVDs instead of renting them; its battle with Netflix (ticker: NFLX) has escalated into an unprofitable price war; the number two video rentailer, Movie Gallery (ticker: MOVI), has nearly doubled in size to about 4,000 stores; and BBI has decided to forego $250-$300 million in annual revenues by dropping late fees.

At the right price, I'm sure Icahn can find a buyer.  But that price will undoubtedly be much lower than it was six months ago.  And there's no guarantee that a buyer can solve Blockbuster's problems.