BlackBerry Could Put Itself Up For Sale

BlackBerry has admitted it is considering a sale of the company after it announced the formation of a special committee to investigate “strategic alternatives” for the company going forward.

The committee, which does not include global creative director Alicia Keys, will investigate a number of possibilities for BlackBerry, including joint ventures and strategic partnerships, as part of a plan to increase the value of the company and expand the reach of BlackBerry 10.

The formation of the committee and discussions about a sale could be interpreted as a failure of CEO Thorsten Heins’ “three step” road to recovery, which has seen thousands of job cuts, a period of restructuring, and the launch of BlackBerry 10 smartphones, in order to return the company to profitability and regain lost market share.

BlackBerry committee

BlackBerry’s value has fallen from a 2008 peak of $84 billion (£54b) to $4.8 billion (£3.1b) in recent times, while it posted a £55 million loss in its most recent quarterly results. Until now, the company had been determined to remain independent, but shareholders have started to doubt the firm’s chances of staging a turnaround.

“We continue to see compelling long-term opportunities for BlackBerry 10, we have exceptional technology that customers are embracing, we have a strong balance sheet and we are pleased with the progress that has been made in our transition,” said Heins.

“As the Special Committee focuses on exploring alternatives, we will be continuing with our strategy of reducing cost, driving efficiency and accelerating the deployment of BES 10, as well as driving adoption of BlackBerry 10 smartphones, launching the multi-platform BBM social messaging service, and pursuing mobile computing opportunities by leveraging the secure and reliable BlackBerry Global Data Network.”

BlackBerry sale

Last week, reports suggested that BlackBerry was considering taking itself private, believing that it had a greater chance of recovery if its affairs were not conducted under the public eye.  It is understood to have had recent discussions with private equity firm Silver Lake, which is currently engaged in the battle to take Dell private, leading to the suggestion of collaboration between the two companies.

It has been noted that private equity firms have been looking at the company for more than two years but have been unable to find a way to structure a deal. One possibility could be to spin-off BlackBerry’s handset division, allowing it to concentrate on services.

Lenovo has previously been mentioned as a potential buyer for BlackBerry, but one potential obstacle could be the fact that the Canadian government has the ability to overrule any major takeover for competition and national security reasons.

In a TechWeekEurope poll conducted earlier this year, 65 percent of our readers said they did not believe BlackBerry would be bought in the next 12 months. They believed the most likely suitor was Microsoft, with Google and Lenovo also backed.

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