Thin Interest In BlackBerry Buyout Rumored Yet Again

There has been non-stop speculation about BlackBerry’s future. The company announced in August that it had formed a Special Committee to probe strategic alternatives. The alternatives include alliances, partnerships and an outright sale. It has been rumored time and again that there is no major interest in the company and that its unlikely for it to be wholly acquired. Some believe that it might even be broken up and sold off in parts. It was reported recently that Fairfax Financial Holdings, which owns a 10 percent stake in BlackBerry, had assembled “billions in backing” from Canadian pension funds. A new report by The Globe and Mail suggests that none of the major pension plans in Canada are prepared as yet to join a takeover consortium.

Fairfax is said to have courted various pension plans, technology companies and private equity firms, but apparently they haven’t shown much interest. Fairfax is said to be still debating whether or not it wants to take part in BlackBerry’s buyout or if it just wants to dump its entire stake in the company. Sources cited in the report claim that Fairfax’s preference is to find another tech company to acquire BlackBerry. Fairfax has been an investor in the company for a long time, only last year it doubled its investment.

Adnan Farooqui
Categories: General
Tags: BlackBerry