Blackberry is planning on going private, as the embattled phone maker looks to turn around its fortunes with a major shift in strategy, according to a news report. Watch this Bloomberg report below: Reuters reports that Blackberry’s management is considering taking the company private, which means buying out existing shareholders. Shares in the smartphone maker […]
Blackberry is planning on going private, as the embattled phone maker looks to turn around its fortunes with a major shift in strategy, according to a news report.
Watch this Bloomberg report below:
Reuters reports that Blackberry’s management is considering taking the company private, which means buying out existing shareholders.
Shares in the smartphone maker jumped more than 5% in New York following the news.
Going private would let the firm reorganise its business without the pressure of shareholder scrutiny.
However, the company would have to find partners who could raise the billions of dollars need to buy out existing shareholders.
In its most recent quarter, Blackberry lost $84m (£54m) and expects to lose more money in the three months to the end of September.
Blackberry launched two all-new smartphones this year, the touchscreen Z10 device, followed by the Q10, with a mini keyboard favoured by many Blackberry users.
Last month the company’s chief executive said that Blackberry was on the right and track, but needed more time to fix its problems.
The move to go private would mimic a similar strategy from computer maker Dell. Founder Michael Dell is trying to buy out shareholders to help reorganise the firm. But the plan resulted in a painful struggle with some shareholders accusing him and his partners of undervaluing their shares.
Read the Reuters report here
