BlackBerry's fate should've been decided two years ago following the fall in its market value by USD65 billion. However, since then, it took losing another USD13 billion for its board members to finally hang a for-sale sign.
Yesterday, BlackBerry announced for the first time that it is currently considering a sale. This was after a series of quarterly plunges in the last two years pushed the company's market value to USD5.1 billion as of last week.
"It makes sense that they might look at throwing in the towel as a public company," Stewart Capital Advisors LLC's chief investment officer, Malcom Polley, said. "They're trying to turn themselves around and make themselves relevant again."
A data compiled by Bloomberg showed that BlackBerry has no debt. The smartphone maker has USD2.8 billion of cash and marketable securities which could aid in financing a buyout. In a liquidation process, BlackBerry would be broken up and put on sale in various pieces to several bidders. Raymond James Financial Inc's analyst in Toronto, Steven Li, estimated that BlackBerry's share may be valued at USD7 to USD15 each.
"We've thought that they would have to eventually sell the assets because we didn't think BlackBerry 10 could return the company to sustained profits," Canaccord Financial Inc.'s analyst, T. Michael Walkley, said through a phone interview. "I think they see the writing on the wall."
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