BlackBerry Company finds buyer: USD 4.7 billion

Sina Science and technology news Beijing time of September 24, the Canadian handset manufacturers BlackBerry public announced today, has been with the Fairfax Financial led the consortium signed a letter of intent, the latter bid for 9 U.S. dollars per share, the total price of 4.7 billion U.S. dollars. Fairfax Financial is a Canadian financial holding company, involved in insurance, investment management and many other business. At present, the company holds about 10% of the BlackBerry stake. Fairfax Financial issued a statement saying the consortium led by the company is seeking financial support from BofA Merrill Lynch and the Bank of Montreal capital CMC. "The deal will usher in an exciting new chapter for BlackBerry, customers, operators and employees," Fairfax Financial CEO Pleme Votsa Prem Watsa said in a statement. We can immediately create value for BlackBerry shareholders and allow the privatized BlackBerry to continue to implement a long-term strategy that focuses on delivering superior, secure enterprise solutions to global customers. "The purchase price is a premium of 3.1% over the weekend closing of the BlackBerry. Fairfax Financial is expected to complete due diligence by November 4. Before that, BlackBerry could still consider other potential takeover intentions. Big breakup fee BlackBerry says that if the company chooses other buyers, it will have to pay a 0.3-dollar break-up fee to the Fairfax Financial consortium, totaling $157 million trillion, and a break-up fee would rise to $0.5 per share if the final agreement is signed with Fairfax Financial. In this deal, investment bank JPMorgan Chase and Perella Weinberg will serve as advisers to the Special Committee on BlackBerry, and law firms Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom LLP and Torys LLP will act as legal advisers. The founder may return to another according to people familiar with the matter, Votsa and BlackBerry co-founder Mack Lazaridis (Mike Lazaridis) to jointly throw the privatisation program. So far, Lazaridis and Votsa have not commented. To avoid a conflict of interest, Votsa resigned as BlackBerry Director in August this year after BlackBerry began looking for potential buyers. Lazaridis, who resigned from the BlackBerry's co-CEO last year, currently holds about 5.7% per cent of the BlackBerry. The consortium, led by Fairfax, is still changing and the proportion of participants and investments is still adjusting, according to people familiar with the matter. The Canada Pension Schemes Investment Authority (Canadian Pension Plan Investment Board) and the Ontario Teachers ' Retirement Fund (Ontario Teachers ' Pension plan) may have joined. BlackBerry has been a long time in the global smartphone market, the latest operating system BlackBerry 10 and smartphones have not allowed the BlackBerryThe death of the Retrogradation forced the company to consider other strategic options from this year onwards, including the overall sale. In the second quarter of this year, BlackBerry's global smartphone market share was only 2.9%, less than 4.9% a year earlier, according to IDC, a market-research firm. The BlackBerry OS has become the world's fourth-largest mobile operating system after Google Android, Apple iOS and Microsoft Windows Phone. Last Friday, the BlackBerry stock plate was suspended and issued a performance warning. The company expects its second-quarter revenue to be $1.6 billion trillion, well below the average forecast of 3.06 billion-dollar analysts. The company also expects operating losses in the second quarter to be 950 million to $995 million trillion, based on US general accounting standards, mainly from 930 million to 960 million dollars in inventory writedowns. The shares fell more than 20% after the resumption of the card, closed down 17%. "Skipp Fairfax Consortium will not raise the purchase price to more than $9 at any time," said Matt Financial, chief investment officer of Sw8 Asset Management, the Canadian hedge fund, according to investors ' view of the $9 per share purchase price. "The Hero of Yesterday is the loser of tomorrow," said David Cockfield, a fund manager at the fund company Northland Vestra Management in Toronto. I wish Pleme Votsa knew what he was doing. "Privatization is the best way for blackberries to survive," said Neeraj Monga, an analyst at Veritas Investment in Toronto, an investment firm. After being privatized, the BlackBerry can shrink its size, make it profitable and maintain its operations. "The latest news is affected by the news, the Monday U.S. stock Exchange, the BlackBerry shares in the sharp pull up, climbed to 9.20 U.S. dollars, and then slipped to 9 U.S. dollars under the purchase price, closed to 8.82 U.S. dollars, or 1.09%. Matchless)