Former BlackBerry CEO Lazaridis return? Participate in the BlackBerry privatisation program?

After the smartphone market's share has been eroded by Apple's iphone and smartphones that carry Google's Android operating system in recent years, the Canadian smartphone maker, BlackBerry, announced in Monday that it has joined major shareholders, Canadian insurance company Fairfax Financial (hereinafter referred to as " Fairfax ") led by the consortium signed a provisional acquisition agreement. The deal is designed to privatize the BlackBerry.

According to the BlackBerry's Monday statement, the Fairfax-led consortium will offer a 9-dollar purchase for the BlackBerry, a premium of 3.1% over the weekend's closing price for the BlackBerry. The consortium will continue to raise funds to complete a deal to buy the BlackBerry. BlackBerry said the deal needed to be done through due diligence and that the two sides still needed to negotiate further.

As the global smartphone market once dominated, the new operating system failed to bring the company back from the dead, forcing Blackberries to start looking for strategic options this year. In the next 6 weeks, a team led by Fairfax will look into the financial position of the BlackBerry, while BlackBerry Chief Executive Stotten Heins (Thorsten Heins) and the company's board of Directors Special Committee will be looking for alternatives.

"The deal will usher in an exciting new chapter for BlackBerry, BlackBerry customers, operators and employees," Pleme Votsa Prem Watsa, Fairfax's chief executive, said in a statement. We are able to bring immediate value to the BlackBerry shareholders and allow the privatized BlackBerry to continue its long-term strategy, focusing on providing a superior, secure corporate solution for BlackBerry customers around the world. ”

BlackBerry announced a layoff of 4500 people last weekend and $960 million for Z10 's inventory of unregistered handsets. Z10 was the first BlackBerry to launch its BlackBerry 10 operating system this January. The company is expected to release its weakest quarterly earnings in 6 years, the BlackBerry said.

Lazaridis return?

Votsa and BlackBerry co-founder Mack Lazaridis (Mike-lazaridis) have held talks to hand out a plan to privatize the BlackBerry, the source said. As of now, Lazaridis and Votsa have not been able to report this.

To avoid a conflict of interest, Votsa resigned as BlackBerry Director in August this year after BlackBerry began looking for potential buyers. As of June 30 this year, Fairfax holds a 9.9% stake in the BlackBerry, according to Bloomberg statistics. Lazaridis, who resigned from the BlackBerry's joint chief executive last year, currently holds about 5.7% per cent of the BlackBerry.

Sources said that the Fairfax-led consortium was still in flux and that new investors were still able to join the consortium, and that the proportion of participants ' investment would still be adjusted. It is reported that the Canada Pension Scheme Investment Authority (Canadian Pension Plan Investment Board) and the Ontario Teachers ' Pension Fund in Canada (Ontario Teachers ' Pension plan) may have joined the consortium.

The purchase price is less than 9 dollars

BlackBerry shares rose 1.1% per cent in conventional trading in the Nasdaq Stock market in Monday, at $8.82. The company's share price hit $9.20 trillion, then slipped below the 9 dollar bid.

"The uncertainty surrounding the topic of financing means that the consortium will not raise the purchase price to $9 trillion at any time," said Matt Skipp, Asset Management chief investment officer at Sw8, a london-based hedge fund based in Toronto. Markets always like cash acquisitions, but the market's preferred cash acquisitions are not limited by financing. ”

BlackBerry was once the king of the smartphone market, but in recent years the company has been unable to keep up with rivals such as Apple and Samsung, which have launched better Web browsers and more apps. In the second quarter of this year, BlackBerry's share of the global smartphone market was only 2.9%, less than 4.9% a year earlier, according to data from IDC, the market research firm. The BlackBerry OS is now the world's fourth-largest mobile operating system behind Google's Android, Apple iOS and Microsoft Windows Phone.

Tomorrow's loser.

"Yesterday's hero is becoming a loser tomorrow," said David Cockfield, fund manager at Northland Vestra Management in Toronto. I wish Pleme Votsa knew what he was doing. ”

The consortium, led by Fairfax, is seeking financial support from two financial institutions such as Bank of America Merrill Lynch and the Montreal Bank capital CMC, according to a statement issued by the company. The BlackBerry said that if the company chooses other deals, it will pay a 0.30-dollar break-up fee for the Fairfax-led consortium, totaling $157 million trillion, and the break-up fee will rise to $0.50 a share once the final agreement is signed with Fairfax.

The investment bank JPMorgan Chase and Perella Weinberg served as advisers to the BlackBerry Special Committee in this transaction, while law firms Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom LLP and Torys LLP acted as legal advisers.

"Privatization is the best way for blackberries to survive," said Nilagi Monga Neeraj Monga, an investment firm Veritas Investment in Toronto. After being privatized, the BlackBerry can shrink its size and make it profitable and operational. ”