BlackBerry will consider selling itself after the long-awaited debut of its new phones failed to turn around the struggling smartphone maker. The company said Monday that its board has formed a special committee to explore "strategic alternatives" in hopes of enhancing the company's value and boosting adoption of its BlackBerry 10 platform. The company said its options could also include joint ventures, partnerships, or other moves.
If BlackBerry was to sell itself, then who could be the potential bidders and who would not be interested:
1. Given that director Prem Watsa, the company's largest investor with a 9.9 per cent stake, is resigning from BlackBerry's board "due to potential conflicts that may arise during the process," some picked him as a possible bidder.
2. Technology companies like Apple, Google or Microsoft would not be interested because they already have their own mobile platforms.
3. South Korea's Samsung could be interested in buying BlackBerry because Google has launched a new phone of its own from its Motorola division, the Moto X. In its quest for an independent operating system for its phones, adding BlackBerry's capabilities would be far easier than developing a system from scratch.
4. There has also been speculation that the PC maker Lenovo or telecommunications equipment maker Huawei, both based in China, were interested in BlackBerry. But Canadian or US regulators may not allow BlackBerry to be owned by a Chinese company. Major clients like the US Department of Defence would abandon BlackBerry if it was bought by a Chinese company.
5. BlackBerry's strategic review will be headed by Timothy Dattels, who joined BlackBerry's board last year and is a senior partner at TPG Capital, one of the world's largest private equity firms. TPG passed on participating in taking computer maker Dell private due to uncertainty of the PC business but said the firm could be interested in BlackBerry. BlackBerry has just over $3 billion in cash and no debt. The market capitalisation is $5.7 billion.
(WIth inputs from Associated Press)
Comments
0 comment