Coller Capital, a leading British private equity firm specializing in secondaries, has announced publicly that it is interested in pursuing BlackBerry in the never ending story that is the BlackBerry takeover. What this means for BlackBerry? Nothing yet. Just more interest in the company, which can potentially be a good thing for the beloved smartphone maker. However, we must keep in mind that several firms have displayed interest to have it amount to merely an inquiry on the financial status of the company with little to show in terms of an actual offer. What does this mean for shareholders?
Coller is putting a twist on their bid; instead of going at it alone, Bloomberg reports an unidentified source stated that Coller will be adding their own financing to the bid along with joining multiple bidders to team up on an offer for BlackBerry. The take in the end will result in either all or part of the company and an acquisition of about 10 percent of BlackBerry’s patents if it makes a deal. At least that’s what they are after.
Several firms have posed inquiries and even posed bids for the company, the foremost being the Fairfax bid for $4.7 Billion. However, since then interest has climbed exponentially as we have seen all kinds of discussions wage on about the value of the company and if it leaves North American soil, how the security issues will be handled, if at all.
We’ve been hinting at this for quite some time, but this is not the end. BlackBerry said they would make a decision by November, but with continued interest in even more firms than they (and most of Wall Street) had anticipated, this bidding war could go on for many months to come. And for all we know, it could end in absolutely nothing. But we have reported time and time again that Thorsten Heins stands to make some serious cash if any one of these deals comes through, so I’m sure he’s pulling for a sale even if we are not.