On Monday, BlackBerry signed a tentative deal to be purchased by a group led by the struggling smartphone's biggest shareholder. The deal had set a USD4.7 billion floor in the auction of the Canadian company.
Prem Watsa's Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd. owned 10% of BlackBerry. The Canadian smartphone maker had been on the block since August after few years of struggle.
The company was previously known as Research In Motion. It came too late to the game of consumer friendly touchscreen smartphones. BlackBerry's sales also slumped as it bled market share to Apple Inc's iPhone and other smartphones using Google Inc's Android operating system.
The offer for BlackBerry came from a consortium led by Fairfax that offered USD9 cash for each share piece. The move was to take BlackBerry private, away from the constant scrutiny of Wall Street. The group had sought financing from Bank of America Merrill Lynch and BMO Capital Markets to complete the deal.
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