According to Reuters several potential bidders and private equity firms are lining up to take bits and pieces from BlackBerry and breaking up the business. While Canadian government officials would like like for the company to stay intact and succeed as a Canadian company there are some potential bidders outside of the country who might be interested.
In recent days a few private equity firms have signed confidentiality agreements or have agreed to meetings with the company to gain access to the company’s books, the sources said.
Possible break up sectors of the company:
- Secured messaging system (many still claim NSA proof) – worth $3 to 4.5 billion
- Patents – $2 to 3 billion
- Cash in hand – $3.1 billion (investments included)
Why would it be better to break it up to smaller pieces from a bidders perspective? It’s market value of $5.4 is far less than the total amount of different parts of the company, more bang for their buck if separated. As a BlackBerry user I would love for the company to stay intact, I believe BlackBerry 10 is a powerful, solid, well polished OS (hasn’t been shown off the way it should) that with some major marketing and a few other key apps here and there a turnaround or comeback is always possible.