The past few days those from BlackBerry they announced disappointing financial results, the company managing to sell few smartphones in the previous fiscal quarter, the receipts being modest. Considering that for several months there have been rumors that it is to be acquired, BlackBerry it was in the end buyer by Fairfax Financial, an investment firm that already owned 10% of the Canadian producer. The company was bought at the price of $9 per share, the final amount being $4.7 billion, much lower than the value of BlackBerry's stock market capitalization a few years ago.
BlackBerry Limited (BBRY)(BB.TO) today announced it has signed a letter of intent agreement (“LOI") under which a consortium to be led by Fairfax Financial Holdings Limited ("Fairfax") has offered to acquire the company subject to due diligence. The letter of intent contemplates a transaction in which BlackBerry shareholders would receive US $9 in cash for each share of BlackBerry shares they hold, in a transaction valued at approximately US $4.7 billion. The consortium would acquire for cash all of the outstanding shares of BlackBerry not held by Fairfax. Fairfax, which owns approximately 10 percent of BlackBerry's common shares, intends to contribute the shares of BlackBerry it currently holds into the transaction.
Considering this acquisition, it is very likely that BlackBerry will be sold piecemeal to any interested companies, its patent portfolio being one of the most attractive components. Apple, Google, Microsoft, HTC and other companies could get their hands on extremely important technologies if an auction is organized for BlackBerry's patents, but it remains to be seen what decision Fairfax Financial will make.
UPDATED: It seems that we are not talking about a real acquisition, but about a letter of intent signed by Blackberry and Fairfax Financial, requiring the fulfillment of certain conditions for a period of 6 weeks, during which other offers can be received and possibly accepted.
