BlackBerry’s life as a public company could be coming to an end after the embattled phone maker announced today it was considering a sale.
The Canadian company, which has been struggling to stem losses and catch up with Samsung and Apple, said it had set up a committee to look at a number of ways to revive its fortunes, including going private. The company said potential joint ventures, alliances or strategic partnerships would also be examined by the committee.
“Given the importance and strength of our technology, and the evolving industry and competitive landscape, we believe that now is the right time to explore strategic alternatives,” Timothy Dattels, a former Goldman Sachs executive and BlackBerry board member who will chair the new committee, said.
The company’s shares, which had lost more than 45% since January, were suspended on Wall Street ahead of the announcement. After trading resumed, they shot up more than 4% to $10.19. Having seen its market value plummet to less than $5 billion (£3.2 billion) from $84 billion in 2008, the company had hoped its new phones based on its BlackBerry 10 operating system would help it regain its former glories.
However, this did not prevent it from posting in June a $84 million loss for its first quarter, a much worse performance than Wall Street had expected.
The company — which this year changed its name from Research In Motion — also declined to break down how many handsets running the BlackBerry 10 operating system had been sold. Last month, BlackBerry cut the price in the US of its new handset, the Z10, which — in a departure from previous models —does not have a physical keyboard. The announcement comes after reports last week that chief executive Thorsten Heins, pictured, and the company’s board were increasingly coming around to the idea of it going private. Heins said last year that a sale was not the “main direction” being examined, having hired JPMorgan and RBC Capital Markets to help it look at strategies.
The appointments were followed by Dattels being named to the board. His former role as an investment banker at Goldman Sachs and his position as senior partner at private equity firm TPG Capital resulted in speculation that a leveraged buyout or a move private could be on the cards.
US food producer Campbell Soup is in final negotiations to sell a number of its European businesses to private equity firm CVC Capital Partners, it was announced today. The terms of the deal were not disclosed, but the businesses included generate net sales of roughly $530 million each year, the company said.
