BlackBerry Considers Going Private – Report

BlackBerry is reportedly considering the idea of going private, believing it would have a better chance of recovery if its affairs were conducted away from the public eye.

Such a move would represent a dramatic shift in strategy for the struggling Canadian manufacturer, since it has, until fairly recently, been determined to remain independent.

However, given the apparent inability of BlackBerry 10 to return the company to profitability, it could be that CEO Thorsten Heins and the board of directors are keen on a radical alternative.

Blackberry sale

According to Reuters, no deal is imminent and it has not launched any kind of sale process, although it has been suggested that BlackBerry might have difficulty in finding a willing buyer and the funding to go private, given its shrinking share of the global smartphone market and financial worries.

The company’s market value has fallen from a 2008 peak of $84 billion to $4.8 billion in recent times, while it posted a £55 million loss in its most recent quarterly results.

This has led some shareholders to doubt the firm’s chances of staging a turnaround, but Heins has asked for patience as he oversees his ‘three step’ road to recovery, which has included the launch of BlackBerry 10 smartphones and thousands of job cuts.

Only last month, Heins said BlackBerry was on the right track and planned to announce more BlackBerry 10 devices over the next eight months. It is unlikely that a private sale was one of the original steps to recovery.

BlackBerry 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.

However, it has been noted that private equity firms have been looking at the company for more than two years but have not been able to find a way to structure a deal.

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.

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