12:45 PM – The last few years have not been good for BlackBerry. The Canadian-based company still struggles to gain any traction in the smartphone world and now things are about to get even more complicated.
According to a new report from The Globe And Mail, Fairfax Financial’s plan to buy Blackberry for a whooping $4.7 billion will not be going through today. Monday is the last day for the company to accept the bid from Fairfax Financial, however, Blackberry has decided to go a different route.
First, the company has shown CEO Thorsten Heins the door. Now former CEO along with several board members have been outed from the company. Blackberry decided to withdraw from a possible buyout and now has a different plan. Instead, the company plans to raise $1 billion and take matters to its own hands. BlackBerry shares have plunged more than 18% since the news broke out.
Originally, Fairfax Financial was in the lead in taking over Blackberry. The firm offered $9 per share, which is well above what Blackberry is currently trading for. In the end, the firm was unsuccessful as Blackberry ditched the offer and decided to go about on its own by raising its own funds, which it has already done.
The reason why CEO Heins was pushed out is because of the failure to successfully launch BlackBerry 10. Before the launch, there was quite a bit of excitement in the tech world, individuals looking forward to getting BlackBerry 10 software, along with supporting smartphones, such as the Z10 and the Q10. But the launch did not bring much excitement. Not too long ago, Sprint reported that there was not much demand for the Q10, opposite of what BlackBerry originally thought would happen.
So, what now? Here’s what is happening. CEO Heins has been pushed out, and the board is being reshuffled. John Chen has been appointed executive chairman of the board, who will be responsible for the company’s future and where to take the company. Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie failed the company a few years ago by going into denial when the original iPhone was released in 2007, then former CEO Heins’ short tenure at BlackBerry came to an end rather quickly. Who can change things around now? Will it be Chen or someone else? What do you think?
