BlackBerry Will Consider Sale of Company As it Forms Special Committee

BlackBerry has just announced that its board of directors has created a special committee to explore 'strategic alternatives' to enhance value and increase scale in order to accelerate BlackBerry 10 deployment. One of the options on the able is selling the company, as well as other forming strategic partnerships or alliances.

BlackBerry Limited , a world leader in the mobile communications market, today announced that the Company's Board of Directors has formed a Special Committee to explore strategic alternatives to enhance value and increase scale in order to accelerate BlackBerry 10 deployment. These alternatives could include, among others, possible joint ventures, strategic partnerships or alliances, a sale of the Company or other possible transactions.

The Special Committee of the Board is comprised of Barbara Stymiest, Thorsten Heins, Richard Lynch and Bert Nordberg, and will be chaired by Timothy Dattels.
With the announcement of the Special Committee, Prem Watsa, Chairman and CEO of Fairfax Financial informed the Company that he felt it was appropriate to resign due to potential conflicts that may arise during the process. Fairfax Financial is the largest BlackBerry shareholder. Mr. Watsa said, "I continue to be a strong supporter of the Company, the Board and Management as they move forward during this process, and Fairfax Financial has no current intention of selling its shares."

"During the past year, management and the Board have been focused on launching the BlackBerry 10 platform and BES 10, establishing a strong financial position, and evaluating the best approach to delivering long-term value for customers and shareholders," said Timothy Dattels, Chairman of BlackBerry's Special Committee of the Board. "Given the importance and strength of our technology, and the evolving industry and competitive landscape, we believe that now is the right time to explore strategic alternatives."

BlackBerry finally launched its BlackBerry 10 in 2013, but so far the OS hasn't seen the success the company was wishing for. Recent IDC reports indicate that the BlackBerry marketshare is at a slim 2.9%. For comparison, Windows Phone is at 3.7%, while Android is sitting at nearly 80%

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