Money | BlackBerry BlackBerry Sells Itself for $4.7B Fairfax Financial, the smartphone pioneer's largest shareholder, buys it By Kevin Spak Posted Sep 23, 2013 1:10 PM CDT Copied In this May 14, 2013 photo, Thorsten Heins, president and CEO at BlackBerry, speaks at a conference in Orlando, Fla. (AP Photo/John Raoux, File) It looks like the days of BlackBerry being an independent company are over. Trading on shares of the company was halted today when the company made it known that it had a major announcement coming. The announcement: It had signed a letter of intent to be purchased by Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd. for $4.7 billion, or $9 a share, the Wall Street Journal reports. Shares had been down 5.6% before trading halted, to $8.23, in the wake of Friday's news that the company would cut its staff by 40% and stop selling devices to consumers. The $9 price tag represents just 4% of Blackberry's peak share value, Journal reporter Shira Ovide tweets. Fairfax currently owns about 10% of BlackBerry, making it the company's biggest shareholder. The Canadian-based company will buy all of the company's outstanding shares. Click for more on its ill-fated company jet. Read These Next White House rolls with Trump's 'daddy' nickname. Gavin Newsom has filed a massive lawsuit against Fox News. New Fox star, 23, misses first day after car troubles. New York Times ranks the best movies of the 21st century. Get breaking news in your inbox. What you need to know, as soon as we know it. Sign up Report an error