James Delahunty
23 Sep 2013 18:01
Canadian smartphone maker BlackBerry has agreed in principle to a $4.7 billion takeover deal led by Fairfax.
Fairfax Financial Holdings Limited already owns a 10 percent stake in BlackBerry, and now it seeks to bring the company under private ownership in a deal that would pay shareholders $9 per share. The consortium would acquire for cash all of the outstanding shares of BlackBerry not held by Fairfax.
Back in August, BlackBerry formed a Special Committee to review strategic alternatives for the company, and it has advised the BlackBerry Board of Directors to approve the terms of the LOI (letter of intent agreement) under which the consortium would acquire BlackBerry and take the company private subject to a number of conditions, including due diligence, negotiation and execution of a definitive agreement and customary regulatory approvals.
Diligence is expected to be complete by November 4, 2013.
During the Diligence period, BlackBerry is permitted to enter into negotiations for alternative deals.
Once a pioneer in smartphones, BlackBerry has struggled to regain its position in the market due to the emergence and rapid growth of iPhones and Android devices. It has made efforts to fight its downward trend with the release of new devices running a revamped BlackBerry 10 operating system, but according to reports it has a stock of over $1 billion worth of unsold phones.
It also recently announced it would lay off over 4,500 staff.