Blackberry Founder Turns Back from Takeover

Chief Executive Officer Mike Lazaridis turned around from a takeover plan while selling some of his shares in the company he co-founded. The smartphone maker Blackberry has “ended an attempt to sell itself” according to Bloomberg.

CEO Lazaridis reduced his person stake in the company and now has slightly less than 5 percent of the shares outstanding, at 4.99 percent, or 26.3 million shares. $26 million in stock was sold this week, according to a regulatory filing.

  

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Since the “collapse of the $4.7 billion buyout by Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd last month, Blackberry ended its strategic review, opting instead to raise $1 billion in convertible debt and seek a new CEO.” John Chen, of Sybase Inc. has been named executive chairman and acting or interim CEO. The $1 billion in convertible debt issued will help provide a buffer for the hardly profitable company. According to Bloomberg, the billion in cash will buy the new CEO some time.

Blackberry shares have had a hard go of things in the marketplace. Competing with mega-giants Apple and Samsung, Blackberry is like the kid brother who always gets picked on. Blackberry shares have decreased in value by a little more than a third. Their statements reflect “plunging sales and mounting losses.” While analysts estimated that Blackberry would earn $1.59 billion in revenue last quarter, their revenue actually fell by 56 percent down to $1.19 billion.

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