BlackBerry To Sell Itself In $4.7 Billion Deal

BlackBerry the well known Canadian company has just announced some interesting news which is saying, the company is entering a $4.7 billion offer from its largest shareholder, a move that would take the free-falling phone company private.

Fairfax Financial Holdings, which already owns 9.9 percent of the Waterloo, Ontario firm, would pay $9 per share, a 3.1 percent premium over last week’s share price. According to a statement by Fairfax CEO Prem Watsa, the private company will “focus on delivering superior and secure enterprise solutions to BlackBerry customers around the world.”…

The BlackBerry Board of Directors, acting on the recommendation of a special committee of the board of directors (the “Special Committee”), approved the terms of the LOI under which the consortium, which is seeking financing from BofA Merrill Lynch and BMO Capital Markets, would acquire BlackBerry and take the company private subject to a number of conditions, including due diligence, negotiation and execution of a definitive agreement (the “Definitive Agreement”) and customary regulatory approvals.

After falling from CrackBerry to just cracked, the company last week cut 4,500 jobs and a announced a $960 million write-down on unsold Z10 BlackBerry smartphones. The handsets, which CEO Thorsten Heins hoped would breathe life into the firm, never caught fire with the buying public.

AlthoughFairfax is currently the only bidder, there is a period of “due diligence” lasting until November 4. During that period, Fairfax can look at BlackBerry’s books and the smartphone maker could entertain competing bids.