BlackBerry puts itself on the block - and wants sale by November
Fast-track bidding process for struggling smartphone maker.
UPDATE / Sept 6: The sale of Nokia's phone business to Microsoft might not be the only major smartphone deal this year.
In August, BlackBerry hired JP Morgan to investigate options for the company, including an outright sale.
There is now a shortlist of potential bidders. BlackBerry wants a full or partial sale completed by November through a fast-track auction process, the Wall Street Journal reports.
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Aug 13: BlackBerry formally put itself up for sale Monday US time, the Wall Street Journal reports.
Lackluster sales of the smartphone maker's big comeback hope, the Z10, have left few options, a person close the matter tells the Journal.
The smartphone maker has engaged JP Morgan to explore alternatives, including a joint venture, strategic partnerships or an outright sale.
BlackBerry shares (NAS:BBRY) surged 11.47% to $US10.89 on the news, giving the Canadian company a market cap of $5.7 billion.
However, the stock is still well-off its 12-month high of $US18.32 (in the pre-iPhone and Android era it peaked at $US230.52).
For its quarter ended June 1, BlackBerry posted a loss of $US84 million, an improvement on its year-ago quarterly loss of $US518.
Revenue rose 9% to $3.1 billion.
The company sold 6.8 million handsets, but did not break out how many were the Z10 or the Q10, both based on its new BlackBerry 10 software.
NBR staff
Fri, 06 Sep 2013
Fri, 06 Sep 2013
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BlackBerry puts itself on the block - and wants sale by November
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