BlackBerry Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) (TSE:BB) is gaining a little bit of interest from potential buyers including some private equity firms, but seems like that these bidders are eyeing only a part of the firm rather than buying the whole company, says a report from Tech2.in, citing various sources.
Some bidders eying part, some full business
Private equity firms are keen to acquire BlackBerry’s operating system and the patents of its keyboards if two different sources are to be believed. However, a Canadian pension fund in collaboration with a private equity firm may bid for the whole BlackBerry business, which at present is valued at slightly over $5 billion.
Fairfax Financial holdings, which owns the maximum stake in BlackBerry Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) (TSE:BB), is in talks with major Canadian investment funds to take BlackBerry private, according to a report from Reuters. Fairfax holds 10 percent of shares in BlackBerry but its Chairman Prem Watsa has stepped down from the board of the company to stay away from any possible conflict of interest.
Recently, there have been further developments, as many private equity firms have secretly started looking into the company’s books, which indicates that the process of sale may begin soon. However, there has been no response from BlackBerry on the news.
BlackBerry, riches to rags
Private equity firms have shown minimal interest in buying whole firm, possibly the effect of tough competition the Canadian smartphone maker is facing from mighty competitors like Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s iPhone, and devices using Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG)’s Android platform.
BlackBerry Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) (TSE:BB) launched OS10 based smartphones this year when the market was suffering a slowdown in demand due to smartphone market saturation in the United States. South Korean giant Samsung Electronics did not perform in line with the expectations, and Apple, for the first time, posted a decline in profits.
BlackBerry Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) (TSE:BB)’s latest smartphones have not impressed much and failed to gain expected market share until now. Additionally, shares of the mobile email pioneer and email pagers leader are now sinking on the stock market. Market value of the company has come down to $5.4 billion, from $84 billion at its highest in 2008.
