BlackBerry Sells Itself for $4.7B

Fairfax Financial, the smartphone pioneer's largest shareholder, buys it
Posted Sep 23, 2013 1:10 PM CDT
BlackBerry Sells Itself for $4.7B
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. (More BlackBerry stories.)

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