End of a are or will there be tranformation?

BlackBerry agrees to $4.7 billion buyout

The company said in a statement that it has “signed a letter of intent agreement under which a consortium to be led by Fairfax Financial Holdings Limited has offered to acquire the company subject to due diligence.”

Fairfax, a Canadian firm, is already BlackBerry’s largest shareholder with approximately 10 percent of its shares.

Under the proposed deal the consortium would offer $9 for each outstanding share, and Fairfax would contribute its own shares in the transaction.

BlackBerry said its board of directors support the plan.

A firm deal, once due diligence is completed, is expected to be announced by November 4. It hinges also on the consortium obtaining financing.

BlackBerry said it would continue a search for a possibly better suitor in the interim.

On Friday, the company announced it was laying off 40 percent of its workforce after a dismal launch of new smartphones earlier this year.

IS I PHONE IS REALLY A REASON??

When the iPhone was originally launched in 2007, experts across the globe claimed it would never be able to compete against the #1 smartphone maker at the time – BlackBerry. Fast-forward six years and the iPhone 5s and 5c just had the best smartphone launch weekend ever, while BlackBerry just entered a letter of intent to sell itself for $4.7 billion.

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Prem Watsa, Chairman and CEO of Fairfax, had the following to say regarding the deal:

“We believe this transaction will open an exciting new private chapter for BlackBerry, its customers, carriers and employees. We can deliver immediate value to shareholders, while we continue the execution of a long-term strategy in a private company with a focus on delivering superior and secure enterprise solutions to BlackBerry customers around the world.”

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