BlackBerry Reportedly Getting A New Lease On Life

Last month BlackBerry announced the formation of a Special Committee to probe strategic alternatives, these alternatives include an outright sale of the company, apart from any possible partnerships and alliances. It has been rumored a few times that there’s not enough interest in the market for BlackBerry as a whole, many believe it might be broken up into parts and then sold. The company just might be getting a new lease on life, courtesy of Prem Watsa, affectionately known as Canada’s Warren Buffett.

According to a new report by The Sunday Times, Watsa, who is the chairman of Fairfax Financial Holdings, is assembling billions of dollars in a resuce bid for BlackBerry. He reportedly has backing from the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board. The company’s shares rallied after the news broke, up almost 3 percent to $11.16. Fairfax Financial Holdings is actually BlackBerry’s largest shareholder, it holds a 10 percent stake in the company. Watsa was previously on the company’s board as well, he resigned in August after the formation of the special committee was announced, citing a conflict of interest. BlackBerry has not issued a comment on this as yet, there haven’t been any reports about interest from other buyers. It has been rumored that Microsoft is also keeping an eye on the ailing Canadian smartphone manufacturer.

Adnan Farooqui
Categories: General
Tags: BlackBerry